KTKA

"We've seen cars pull up, leave the engine running, leave the doors open," said Central Park neighbor Colin Bennett.

"In the hallways or other areas they find things like used condoms," said Ginger Bennett.

Keith Holden and Jennie Fike have lived in the apartments at 1019 Douthitt for six months. Those apartments are owned by Duc1.

They say trash is a normal part of life here at the apartments. Neighbors say a dirty yard is the least of their problems.

"There was evidence of cocaine being used," said Colin. "There was also evidence of marijuana. So, we know there's some drug activity going on."

Bennett and his wife, Ginger, live in Central Park neighborhood and have seen much of this activity with their own eyes.

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When asked do you think there was prostitution going on, Ginger replied, "that's what I was thinking from the way they were dressed."

The police have seen their share of criminal activity at 10th and Douthitt. 49 News did some digging and got a hold of these police reports. According to reports, Topeka Police have been called to the Douthitt apartments at least 30 times in the past two years for everything from cocaine possession and domestic battery to theft and criminal damage.

Claude Duncan is a hard man to reach, but 49 News' Liz Zamora tracked him down. When confronted with what neighbors said about his operation, he said there was no way he was going on camera.

He did say though if someone was doing something illegal and he could prove it, he would kick them out.

Neighbors believe 30 police reports is proof enough.

Longtime Central Park resident Don Perkins says the apartment weren't always this bad. He said after Dunc1 took over it's kind of went down hill.

"There's been a lot of drugs and criminal activity in this building," Perkins said.

In the Old Town neighborhood 49 news took a look at a different property and came up with the same problems.

"We've had some vandalism, car break-ins" said one property manager.

"We've seen multiple cars pull up. Somebody runs out of the house after the horns been honked," said another property owner "Run out, lean in, -- they're there for 15-20 seconds.

The property owner doesn't want to be identified because of fear of retaliation.

"People in the drug industry don't like people blowing whistles at them," he said.

But another property manager said landlords couldn't be responsible for the actions of their tenants and believes property managers like Dunc1 perform a service for other landlords.

"If we evict everyone who causes problems, I mean as an industry, where are they going to live?" Perkins said. "I don't buy that at all because I know everybody needs a place to stay, and you got to treat people humane. But, at the same time, you gotta decide what kind of tenants you want."

And if there's no crime, chances are the mess makes it a House from Hell.

When someone moves out, their stuff stays behind - some for nearly two months.

49 News was given pictures of piles of garbage in the Highcrest neighborhood. People simply left piles of stuff behind, and neighbors were forced to look at it.

"Some people call it the slums," said Highcrest neighborhood resident Karen Snyder. "I never wanted to live in the slums."

And, when the people in the neighborhood move out, not everyone follows.

Linda Cercone and her son Christopher said the house they lived in was infested with mice, rats and snakes.

"You go to bed at night, you have mice crawling all across you," she said.

Christopher Munro says "and all of a sudden you'd hear ch-ch-ch all around you, and it would be the rats and mice chewing."

Duncan says anytime a problem comes up, he addresses the issue.

49 News checked with the city's Code Compliance Department on code violations, and the reports say every issue has been resolved.