Problem properties meet match: nuisance suits

When businesses become insufferable crime magnets, Marion County officials charged with keeping the peace bring out their big gun.

The nuisance lawsuit.

More than 18 times over the past five years, nuisance lawsuits have been the weapon of choice against the worst of the worst problem properties in Marion County.

A public nuisance declaration may sound like something proclaimed from the pulpits by 18th century puritans. But it seems to be increasingly working as a crime-fighting tool in these YouTube times.

The Beech Grove Wal-Mart, site of a now-infamous videotaped fight in June between two women and a young boy, is a case in point.

Two months after the shampoo aisle tussle went viral — followed shortly thereafter by the case of the nabbed shoplifter who ran from Wal-Mart security and then shot himself in a nearby restaurant — Beech Grove's mayor, Dennis Buckley, had had enough.

He turned to the city's nuisance ordinance that was passed last year. It gave Beech Grove the power to demand, under the threat of steep fines, that Wal-Mart improve security and the way it deals with shoplifters who seem to favor its Emerson Avenue store just off I-465.

The store was the site of almost 1,200 police runs in the past year — or more than three a day.

The nuisance law has cut into those numbers.

In the month since Beech Grove hit Wal-Mart with the nuisance complaint, "Things are going better. They do not call us like they used to," Buckley said.

Beech Grove's crackdown prompted Wal-Mart to hire uniformed off-duty police to provide security in its store, build an eight-foot fence around its property and set up a program to put petty shoplifters through a "restorative justice" program. It doesn't require arresting them — or calling police for every shoplifiting incident.

Says Buckley: "It's better than it has been. It appears now that things are working out, but make no mistake, we have a ways to go."

Beech Grove is late to embrace nuisance laws. To combat crime, Indianapolis officials have wielded nuisance laws, and increasingly lawsuits, like a spiked mace.

News reports show the city's legal department, at the behest of code enforcement and police, has filed nuisance lawsuits since 2011 against at least eight apartment complexes, nine hotels and a handful of bars and rental-home landlords

The problem properties typically had racked up hundreds of police runs each over a year or two. They tended to be rife with prostitution, drug-dealing and violent crime. And management seemed unable to get control.

A nuisance lawsuit "garners the attention of lackadaisical property owners. They serve as a wakeup call," said city prosecutor Mark Pizur. "The city has really increased the use of public nuisance lawsuits the last several years. It has become clear it is a viable and successful way to assist public safety."

Almost every nuisance lawsuit by the city has resulted in property enhancements and improved security — and fewer police calls, Pizur said.

At least five apartment complexes slapped with nuisance lawsuits in the last four years have simply shut down and put their properties up for sale, Pizur said.

Property owners hit by a nuisance complaint aren't exactly fans.

To be deemed a public nuisance can be a reputation-killer for a commercial business.

A Wal-Mart spokesman makes a point of noting that Beech Grove's demand letter to reduce crime reports at the Beech Grove store never uses the term "public nuisance." (Even though Beech Grove's action was done under its nuisance ordinance.)

Businesses also don't like that a nuisance complaint can be painfully expensive. It often requires hiring an attorney to fight the city in court battles that can drag on for months.

Indianapolis attorney Donald Levenhagen, who defended Heather Ridge apartments, a Far Westside complex sued in 2013 for being a public nuisance, argues that his client didn't want criminals operating on the property and it was unfair for the city to sue.

"The city has some legitimate tools they can use to put you in court for housing violations. But nuisance lawsuits? I think they they are a back-handed way to shift some government costs onto the private sector. I'm not a big fan."

Needless to say, Heather Ridge's owner, BSG Enterprises, didn't try to fight the city's $1 million nuisance lawsuit. It settled for less than $10,000 in 2014 and agreed to changes in security that the city wanted, including hiring a property management consultant, Levenhagen said.

Wal-Mart also chose not to fight.

Perhaps Wal-Mart didn't fight because Beech Grove threatened a fine of $2,500 every time a police officer was called to its store. Or because it was hard to argue that crime at its store wasn't taxing Beech Grove's small police force, which puts just three or four officers on the street per shift.

The Beech Grove store's nearly 1,200 police runs were by far the most to any of the 10 Wal-Marts in Marion County from mid-2014 to July of this year. The Wal-Mart at 4545 Lafayette Road was second, with 838 police runs, according to police records.

It's clear that the Beech Grove nuisance complaint got the attention of the nation's largest department store chain.

A company spokesman, speaking from Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., said the retailer is striving to cut police calls at its Beech Grove store and comply with local officials' demands.

"We feel like we really have been working to meet any kind of requirements they made," said spokesman Brian Nick.

He said Wal-Mart even went beyond Beech Grove's demands with its "restorative justice" program. On its own Wal-Mart also banned the two women caught in the videotaped fight from entering any of its 4,500 U.S. stores for the rest of their lives, Nick said.

So far, Beech Grove hasn't leveled any $2,500 fines against Wal-Mart.

Indianapolis' police and city prosecutor also are working with Wal-Mart to reduce police calls at the other nine Wal-Marts in the city. So far, it's working, said Pizur.

"The city is pleased with Wal-Mart's response. Numbers (of runs) are trending down," he said. Wal-Mart is putting in effect some of the same changes it made at the Beech Grove store, Pizur said, including not asking police to arrest those caught for petty shoplifting.

Beech Grove's just getting started with its use of nuisance complaints. It filed another against a crime-ridden Motel 6, at 5151 Elmwood Ave., and has seen changes for the better there, Buckley said.

"They have off-duty cops, they do extensive checks of those who want a room and they have a 'no trespass' list of people not allowed at the property," Buckley said. "They are also considering raising their room prices. They are working diligently to correct their problems, and we make less runs there as well."

Beech Grove Deputy Police Chief Michael Maurice likes what the nuisance law has wrought so far.

"Since the end of June and in July, (Wal-Mart) has stepped up. They're trying to partner with us now, which is all that we want. We want to try and find a solution for us and the community, and we're getting there."

Pizur sees a big payoff for the public when nuisance lawsuits work: Police, fire and other public safety responders gain more time to serve the broader community rather than focusing much of their effort on just a few problem properties.

Call Star reporter Jeff Swiatek at (317) 444-6483. Follow him on Twitter: @JeffSwiatek.