Man with disability stuck in Louisville apartment for weeks from broken elevators

LOUISIVLLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Residents at a high-rise condominium in Louisville are upset from a weeks-long problem.

WAVE reports the elevators at the building have been broken since before Thanksgiving.

They report one man with a disability was confined to his condo for nearly seven weeks.

The resident, Reggie Carter, lives on the 10th floor, where taking the stairs is simply not an option.

Carter says, “I’m crippled, I have no toes on my left foot. My balance is off. I can’t walk up and down those steps. I can’t do that at all.”

Carter has lived in the condos for four years and has faced his disability for eight years.

Unable to get downstairs, this led Carter to need help from other residents to buy food.

“They come up, I give them some money and they go shopping for me,” he says. “But it’s gotten to the point now they don’t want to do it either.”

After receiving a tip, Louisville Metro Code Enforcement issued a citation on Dec. 16 for property violations, including broken elevators.

Property owners were given a deadline of Dec. 23 to fix them, but Carter remains stuck.

He says, “I’m getting a little tired. As we speak right now, the power’s all out all over. I just been kind of being cool about it. You know, hoping that it was going to get resolved soon, you know. But now it’s, it seems like it’s the holidays and nobody knows anything and how long this is going to be carrying on. And I got business to take care of.”

WAVE reports they tried contacting the property manager to get answers. However, they say the call went to voicemail, and an email came back with an auto-response that she is out on vacation.

Another resident, Roberto Aguila, says, “They’re just up there, stuck up there, with nothing to eat. They can’t even go to doctors’ appointments and stuff like that and so I’m really worried about them.”

Aguila owns his own condo, paying hundreds of dollars in monthly homeowner’s fees on top of rent but says the building stays in disrepair.

Aguila says, “With the maintenance fee that we’re paying for, I figured the place should be taken care of and it’s not. All the floors are terrible, and I’m just disappointed.”

Building management said the elevators should be fixed within days.

They said disabled residents were offered the chance to relocate until repairs were done, but many turned that offer down.

However, residents dispute that claim.