City takes property owner to court over roof repairs

The city will take a property owner to county court over an alleged lack of roof repairs throughout 2015.

The case against property owner Ngoc Nguyen, 54, was moved from the city’s municipal court to the county’s 13th Judicial Circuit on Monday. Former Columbia city prosecutor Steve Richey filed the eight misdemeanor charges in December 2015 for “failure to properly maintain the exterior structure” of his fourplex on 210 Apple Tree Court. The complaint specifies that Nguyen failed to fix a “deteriorating” roof even after someone complained to the city about the state of it.

Leigh Kottwitz with Columbia’s Office of Neighborhood Services told ABC 17 News a neighboring property owner made a complaint against Nguyen in February 2015 – the first month Nguyen’s crime allegedly started. The criminal complaint lists the same violation for each month from February to August, including two in May. Kottwitz said that office still had an open case against Nguyen.

Nguyen did not return a request for comment Tuesday night. City prosecutor Jack McManus did not respond to an email Tuesday afternoon.

According to city ordinance, Nguyen could face a $500 fine for each crime, if guilty, or a three-month jail sentence. Court filings show Columbia police arrested him in February for “failure to comply,” where Nguyen bonded out shortly after the arrest. Nguyen also requested a jury trial last week, which could happen as soon as June 22.