Landlord accuses grandma of gang activity
VIDEO - A 59-year-old grandmother is being accused of gang related activity that includes selling drugs and shooting guns...
A 59-year-old grandmother is being accused of gang related activity that includes selling drugs and shooting guns, by her landlord. Jeannetta Holden has been a staple in the Whittier Denver neighborhood, living in the same apartment, for over 30 years.
“I have 12 grandkids and I have five great grandkids,” Holden said. “I like to cook. I like to have them over.”
According to Holden, her peaceful life was turned upside-down when Gibraltar Property Management, the management company who oversees the apartment complex where she lives, sent her an eviction notice that accused Holden of violating her lease terms. The notice stated she had been engaging in drug-related criminal activity and neighbors had complained of sounds of gun shots, coming from her apartment.
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“I don’t gang bang. I don’t sell drugs. And I definitely don’t shoot guns. Never owned a gun in my life,” Holden said.
She responded to the allegations by writing a letter to the property management company, asking for proof of the supposed lease violations. A manager at Gibraltar responded saying the eviction notice was issued after more than one written complaint and a police report documenting the incident.
NBC’s 9News did an online search of Denver’s police records and were not able to locate any reports of illegal activity at Holden’s address.
“It’s frustrating,” she said. “I want to see the proof.”
When Holden’s note to the management company was rejected, she called the property manager to appeal the decision to evict, stating that the allegations were false however, her efforts fell on deaf ears.
”[The property manager] said it was my neighbors saying that I do these kind of things,” according to Holden.
When 9NEWS spoke to five neighbors, they all said illegal activity has not occurred at Holden’s apartment. Colin Jones, who lives next door, said, “She’s always been a good neighbor.”
Jones did admit to calling the cops over Mother’s Day Weekend to complain about gun fire at a different address in the neighborhood.
“It is another apartment. I even told the police which apartment it was,” Jones said. “It certainly wasn’t her apartment.”
Gibraltar Property Management refused to comment on the matter to 9News.
With limited financial resources, Holden is not able to hire a lawyer and worries she may be wrongfully forced out of the apartment she has called home for over three decades.
“I’ve been here for 30 years,” she said. “I raised my children here. “I’m poor, and I just want to defend myself.”
