A jury Friday awarded more than $20 million to a man who fell through a rotting walkway at his Southeast Portland apartment complex and successfully argued that its Southern California owners purposely refused to fix the walkway to drive up their profits.

Robert Trebelhorn was 47 when he plunged thigh-deep into a rotting second-story walkway in February 2016.

His attorneys said that after at least a decade of deferred maintenance, the owners of the Wimbledon Square apartments refused to spend about $750,000 to $1 million to repair the walkway and other deteriorating stairways, balconies and walkways at the 600-unit complex.

That was despite urging from a contractor that the fixes were crucial to protecting the lives and safety of tenants, Trebelhorn’s attorneys said.

Instead, the owners, Los Angeles-based Prime Group, approved spending about $250,000 on the problem, the attorneys said.

The management also had a history of telling maintenance workers to paint over rotting wood that supported the walkways and to apply a thin veneer of concrete over cracking walkways or stairs to give them the appearance of safety, Trebelhorn's attorneys said.

“It was bubble-gum fixes -- bubble gum and tape -- and that’s how it was for years at this place,” Portland attorney Jason Kafoury told a Multnomah County Circuit Court jury.

Prime Group owns 16,000 rental units across the country, according to its website. That makes it one of the largest U.S. rental holding companies with $7 billion worth of real estate, Trebelhorn’s attorneys said.

“This was not an accident,” Kafoury said. “Prime (Group) made a predictable choice. They made a choice to put their own wealth ahead of the safety of their tenants.”

Representatives with Prime Group couldn’t immediately be reached for comment after the verdict was read just before 5 p.m. in the courtroom of Judge Karin Immergut.

The trial lasted five days. Jurors awarded $20,295,000 in the case, including $20 million in punitive damages against Prime Group. Two segments of Prime Group -- Prime Wimbledon SPE and Prime Administration, LLC -- are responsible for paying the punitive damages.

Under state law, 30 percent of punitive damages will go to Trebelhorn. Oregon's crime victims' compensation fund and courthouse facilities and security fund will receive 70 percent.

That's after any appeals are settled, if the company decides to challenge the verdict.

Trebelhorn will get $295,000 for medical bills and his pain and suffering. He tore the meniscus in his knee, causing ongoing pain and therapy even after he underwent surgery.

During the trial, Prime Group’s Portland attorney, Matthew Casey, contended that this was a case about a man who injured his leg and not an example of some “evil intent” by the complex’s owners to hurt people.

“We agree that this event happened,” Casey said. “We’re sorry that it happened, and we’re taking responsibility that it happened.”

After the verdict, one juror told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he hoped the verdict sends a message to Prime Group that it must change. He said the defense offered no evidence to counter Trebelhorn's claims.

The Wimbledon Square apartments cover multiple blocks and 72 buildings, with a street address of 2837 S.E. Colt Drive -- just north of the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden.

Trebelhorn’s attorneys said they weren’t allowed to tell jurors about other safety violations that they said put residents of the complex in peril, including fire alarms with batteries that had expired in the 1990s and sprinkler heads that had been painted over so they were no longer functional.

Prime Group took advantage of Portland’s sizzling hot rental market, Trebelhorn’s attorneys said, noting the Wimbledon Square apartments have a 98 percent occupancy rate even with an abysmal turnover rate. Over one year, 70 percent of the people who have moved in have moved out, the attorneys said.

Rents for the one- to two-bedroom apartments range from $1,000 to $1,500, meaning the complex takes in $9 million a year in rent, Trebelhorn’s attorneys said.

“To them, Wimbledon is nothing but a dollar sign,” said attorney Greg Kafoury, who also represented Trebelhorn. “The people who live there are nothing but a source of money.”

Greg Kafoury described the company's business model as "reprehensible."

Trebelhorn lived there for about eight years with his wife and family that had grown to include three children, now ages 7 to 14. He said he complained repeatedly about various problems to maintenance staff and management, but ultimately stopped.

“I just felt like I’d become an annoyance, and I’d say this and that and nothing would be done or very little would be done,” Trebelhorn said.

He applauded the verdict.

“I feel like this is a long time coming,” he said. “I feel like the people stood up to a bully and let them know that this was intolerable.”

-- Aimee Green