INDIANAPOLIS — Imagine feeling like you are trapped in your own home. It's a reality for many residents living at a senior living apartment complex on the east side.
"They are being held hostage in this building," said Shuanna Thomas. "There's a guy on the third [floor] who is wheelchair bound, and he has been stuck in here for three weeks."
The Bonner family is not only concerned for their mother's life but for many others who live in the Preston Pointe Senior Apartments.
"With the elevator being out, if I need to call 9-1-1, how do they get up here to her?" said Dawn Bonner.
Shuanna and Dawn are two of eight siblings who care for their mom who is in hospice care. They say the elevator has been out for three weeks and have no answer on when it will be fixed.
The Marion County Health Department cited the property with an emergency notice violation on Sept. 12 after an inspection. WRTV obtained documents that show they did not comply within 24-hours, so now the health department is taking the property owners to court.
"Nobody has given us updates on what they are trying to do," said Bonner. "There are just signs up saying it's out until further notice."
The family says this is not the first time this has happened and that it keeps getting a "band-aid" fix.
WRTV asked the State Fire Marshal's office about the situation. They say the elevator was taken out of service by a maintenance company and the apartment was operating without a valid permit. The permit expired a few months ago.
