COLORADO SPRINGS — Dozens of former residents of an apartment complex destroyed in an arson that killed two men are suing owners and managers of the complex.
Their lawsuit, filed last month, argues that owners Howard Parnes and Ted Sannella of Coolidge-Castle West Equities and Urban Property Management Inc. were negligent for not maintaining security doors that would have kept an arsonist out.
The lawsuit claims that the defendants ignored hundreds of calls from residents to police complaining of criminal activity around the complex and that the complex didn’t have adequate smoke alarms.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for damages.
In their response to the lawsuit, Parnes and Sannella deny mismanagement or wrongdoing. Their attorney, Mike O’Donnell, said the owners also were victimized by the arson.
