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Criticism aimed at apartment complex after officer's death 
09:00 AM CST on Thursday, January 8, 2009
DALLAS - The apartment complex where a Dallas officer was fatally shot Wednesday is known for having drug and gang activity on its property. It's also known for its rundown conditions and barely passed its last inspection.
So, why can't the city shut down the Oakwood Place Apartments? The short answer is that the city hasn't recently found any serious code violations at the complex.
Some city council members directed their anger to apartment owners, who some believe aren't screening tenants’ backgrounds properly.
News 8 learned Dallas council members are familiar with the owner of the Oakwood Place Apartments due to his political connections at City Hall.
The chronic crime at the Oakwood Place Apartments, and the senseless death of Officer Smith on its property, has caused anger to boil over among council members.
The complex is in Vonciel Jones Hill's district.
“If the managers and owners cannot get rid of the thugs and the hoodlums, then I will do everything legally possible to shut you down," she said.
After the Oakwood Place Apartments' last inspection in 2007, the city gave the complex an 85, which is the lowest possible passing score.
Since then, tenants complained of loose animals and parking violations, but the city says there have been no major complaints.
The code requires apartments to check the criminal background of a tenant applicant, and Oakwood Place passed that part of the inspection.
But problems persist and City Manager Mary Suhm said it will be re-inspected.
“There are issues that clearly are not the kind of quality of life we want in this community," she said.
Suhm said they will talk with the owner of ways "they can improve that.”
Public records show Alex Stolarski, of Dallas, owns the Oakwood Place Apartments, along with several other complexes in the Dallas area.
He didn't respond to News 8's request for comment.
But in an email to Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia, Stolarski defended the condition and the operation of the complex, including the required background checks.
"We of course ran one on Mr. Charles Payne, the suspected shooter, and under criminal records the background check document states: 'No criminal records found in Amrent database,'" the statement read. "So we leased to him."
Stolarski certainly knows of Garcia. Records show he contributed $5,000 since 2001 to her campaigns.
She appointed him to the city's Commission on Productivity and Innovation.
“I met him a long time ago and I got to work with him when I got elected," Garcia said of their relationship. "And like I said, he remodeled some of the apartments in my district.”
Garcia said violations by Stolarski or any other apartment owners should be cited by the city.
The re-inspection is tentatively planned to happen within the next few weeks.
E-mail bwatson@wfaa.com
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