More than 60 people displaced after Akron apartment building deemed unsafe, including 20 sex offenders

AKRON, Ohio (WOIO) - More than 60 people are without a home on one of the coldest days of the year.

According to the city of Akron, the façade of the Parkside Apartments on S. Main, St. came crumbling down on Feb. 9.

On Feb. 13, the Summit County Division of Building Standards deemed the building to be an imminent danger to residents and the surrounding community.

During their inspection, they also found a fire panel wasn’t working and issued an immediate evacuation.

On Feb. 14, the city they loaded the residents onto a bus by Metro RTA and took those who didn’t have a place to stay to an overnight shelter.

“They came with a dozen police officers knocking on everyone’s door pretty much saying grab what you can, grab your pets, your medicine, and hurry up and get out of here,” said resident William Williams.

The residents tell 19 News they haven’t heard from the city since, saying living in shelters is not feasible and someone should be helping them find permanent housing.

They even tried to go to the mayor’s office but were told they needed an appointment.

“We contacted Red Cross, United Way, and everybody they turned us all down,” said maintenance worker, Jimmy Reeves. “The government puts all this money into these programs to help people like us and these kinds of needs and we’re not getting nothing”.

Many residents told 19 News they believe it’s because of their past actions and their landlords that they are not receiving help.

“Everybody has a past of some sort what they did is what they did it’s not who they are.”

“We got people here that are on probation trying to restart their life after prison,” said Reeves. “That’s the way they look at us they look at us like scum”.

Our team did reach out to the city of Akron about the residents' concerns. We were told anyone needing help should call 2-1-1 for resources.

When we asked about left behind medication and animals, they suggested the residents contact the owner of the building.

According to court records, Robert L. Johnson is the landlord at Parkside and the owner of the building.

He is currently on house arrest for several charges including felonious assault, two counts of kidnapping, and resisting arrest.

Our team tried to get a hold of Johnson, and the residents said his phone was disconnected — but that he was inside the building.

The 19 News team also found that there are currently more than 20 registered sex offenders who have the Parkside Apartments listed as their home.

The people interviewed for this story are not registered sex offenders.

According to the state of Ohio, offenders must let the sheriff’s office know immediately if they move, even if it’s not to a specific location.

We reached out to the sheriff’s office to see if they know where these people are but haven’t heard back.

We did receive this statement from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Despite their past, the Parkside residents believe they should still have somewhere to live.

Even if that means living in their apartments until something else is figured out.

“I don’t understand why if they’re trying to do better the officials and the city won’t let us be,” said Ward. “Because we are doing better”.