The Columbia Heart Beat: CRIME, DEBT, AND BROKEN JUSTICE: Wallop Local Apartments

COLUMBIA, 2/26/09 (Beat Byte) -- Between crime, debt, lax rental standards, and our badly broken justice system, Columbia's law-abiding apartment dwellers don't stand a chance.

Take Gatehouse Apartments, 2401 W. Broadway, where fallout from the nationwide credit crunch and repeat offenders who should be in prison may be behind an explosion of assaults, gun violence, SWAT busts, and kidnapping. From drug dealers to child pornographers, Columbia's Sodom-on-the-Hinkson has kept cops arresting, bailers bonding, and courts releasing day in and day out in recent months.

Just last week, Gatehouse resident Eric Kegler Lambert, 21, out on bond for a forgery violation two weeks earlier, was arrested again for probation and parole violations.

Lambert's had breaks by the bushel. In 2005, he faced 1st degree burglary and armed criminal action charges, later plea-bargained to 2nd degree burglary. After a stretch of -- not jail time but "home detention" at 1322 Raleigh Drive -- Boone County Judge Ellen Roper suspended Lambert's five-year prison sentence and placed him on probation. But after Lambert failed to show up for drug rehab at Reality House, Roper revoked his probation and reinstated his 5-year prison sentence.

That was in October 2006. It's February 2009, and for some reason, Eric Kegler Lambert is living, not at the Big House, but at Gatehouse.

On the debt front, Co-Star, a commercial real estate information service, reported in October that a group of Columbia apartments, including Gatehouse, had fallen on hard times. Totaling 874 units, the apartments include 301 Tiger Lane; 109 N. Stadium Blvd.; 2401 W. Broadway; and 2206 Whitegate Drive, Columbia, MO.

"The loan payments were seven to 10 months delinquent," Co-Star 's Property Watch List reported. "Special servicer is considering combining as a four-property portfolio for future disposition to begin this month."

For Bank of America Commercial Mortgage (BACM), Florida-based LNR Partners is acting as the "special servicer," a term from commercial mortgage lexicon. "Upon the occurrence of certain specified events, primarily a default, the administration of the loan is transferred to the Special Servicer," according to Wikipedia. "Besides handling defaulted loans, the Special Servicer also has approval authority over material servicing actions, such as loan assumptions."

Records on file with the Boone County recorder indicate BACM recently took a greater ownership interest in the properties from RD Columbia Associates, part of the Acadia Realty Trust of Delaware, which has owned the properties for over a decade.
Cohen and Esrey of Kansas City now manage the troubled apartment portfolio -- Gatehouse, Holiday House, The Colony, and Tiger Village -- once managed by Homkor Companies. Earlier facing foreclosure, the portfolio is presently for sale.

The Boone County assessor listed Homkor, owned by Jim Wiss and Ellen Webber-Wiss, as manager of the properties last year. Ellen Wiss informs the Columbia Heart Beat that her firm has not managed the apartments since the end of 2007.

Once a prominent central city improvement advocate and former Intersection board member, Webber-Wiss founded an organization called PRIDE that in 2006 sought to build a $4 million central city community center.

Arrests at Gatehouse Apartments, Jan 2008 to Feb. 2009 (virtually all released on bond):
(from the Columbia Daily Tribune Arrest Reports)

Joshua Allen Macomber, 22, of 2401 W. Broadway, use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

Eryka Lynne McDonald, 19, of 2401 E. Broadway Apt. 109, failure to appear in court, $216.50 bond.

Benito Mendez, 34, of 2401 W. Broadway, first-degree trespassing.
Lyndia Marriette Lambert, 35, of 2401 W. Broadway, obstruction of government operations
Shengwu Lin, 31, of 2401 Broadway, selling alcohol to a minor.
Daron Martez Peal, 21, of 2401 Broadway, driving without a license
Christopher Edward Standley, 19, of 2401 W. Broadway Apt. 926, third-degree domestic assault
Alisha Danielle Cozart, 22, of 2401 W. Broadway, stealing.
Sam Gbor, 51, of 2401 W. Broadway, third-degree domestic assault
Brandi Lateash Myers, 18, of 2401 W. Broadway, first-degree trespassing.
Sarah G. Turpin, 28, of 2401 Broadway W., driving while license is suspended or revoked, possession of drug paraphernalia.
John Andrew Griffith, 31, of 2401 W. Broadway, second-degree statutory sodomy, furnishing child pornography
Brandi Lateash Myers, 18, of 2401 Broadway Apt. 710, assault, peace disturbance, stealing
Jordan Bradley Smarr, 21, of 2401 W. Broadway, driving while intoxicated, failure to drive on roadway.
Obryan Lyshawn Blackwell, 19, of 2401 W. Broadway, out-of-county warrant, no bond set.
Tarik M. Muzughi, 22, of 2401 W. Broadway, two misdemeanor warrants.
James Robert Thompson, 19, of 2401 W. Broadway, Apt. 224, stealing
Jason Daniel Groharing, 34, of 2401 W. Broadway, driving while intoxicated
Jonathan Michael Williams, 28, of 2401 W. Broadway, Apt. 1104, stealing
Chelsea M. Vishnefske, 19, of 2401 W. Broadway, fraudulent use of a credit device, stealing.
Ronald Leroy Smith, 27, of 2401 W. Broadway, Apt. 711, second-degree child endangerment
Vaid Yunusovich Aliyev, 17, of 2401 W. Broadway, failure to appear in court
Dustin R. Hall, 25, of 2401 W. Broadway, driving while license is suspended or revoked.
Daniel Paul Irwin, 24, of 2401 W. Broadway, possession of drug paraphernalia.
Harrison Keith Shrum, 20, of 2401 W. Broadway, possession of 35 grams or less of marijuana
Micah Andrew Schafer, 21, of 2401 Broadway, distribution, manufacture, possession of a controlled substance
Katherine Lynn Scott, 24, of 2401 W. Broadway, Apt. 602, third-degree domestic assault
Reuben Nathaniel L. Smith, 18, of 2401 W. Broadway, stealing
Jacob Alan McClelland, 23, of 2401 Broadway, driving while intoxicated
Timothy James Blackwell, 18, of 2401 W. Broadway, littering
Ashleigh Brooke Early, 18, of 2401 W. Broadway, noise violation
Linnie Michelle Standley, 44, of 2401 W. Broadway, harassment
Christopher Eugene Berry, 30, of 2401 W. Broadway, noise violation
Deangelo Nicholas Porter, 17, of 2401 Broadway, second-degree property damage, first-degree child endangerment, third-degree domestic assault

Daron Martez Peal, 21, of 2401 W. Broadway, unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action, third-degree assault, $80,000 bond.

Daron Martez Peal, 21, of 2401 W. Broadway, distribution, manufacture or possession of a controlled substance, first-degree trespassing, $500 bond.

Eric Kegler Lambert, 21, of 2401 W. Broadway Apt. 112, probation and parole violation, no bond set.

Eric Kegler Lambert, 21, of 2401 W. Broadway Apt. 112, forgery, $4,500 bond.
Aaron Lee Warren, 29, of 2401 W. Broadway, peace disturbance
Aaron Lee Warren, 28, of 2401 W. Broadway, forgery, driving while intoxicated
Derrick Resean Ford, 29, of 2401 W. Broadway, kidnapping
Derrick Resean Ford, 29, of 2401 W. Broadway, felonious restraint, second-degree assault, armed criminal action
Walter Lee Rainey, 34, of 2401 W. Broadway, probation-and-parole violation
Walter Lee Rainey, 35, of 2401 W. Broadway, stealing, ex parte violation
Benjamin Terrell Prince, 23, of 2401 W. Broadway, possession of 35 grams or less of marijuana.
Benjamin Terrell Prince, 23, of 2401 W. Broadway, resisting arrest, third-degree assault on an officer
Sean Kirk Pringle, 29, of 2401 W. Broadway Apt. 212, driving while license is suspended or revoked
Sean Kirk Pringle, 29, of 2401 W. Broadway, failure to display license plates, driving while license is suspended or revoked.

CRIME AT GATEHOUSE, New stories -- Jan. 2008 to Feb. 2009