‘I felt more violated’: Tenants report recent rash of crimes at southeast Lincoln apartments

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Many in a southeast Lincoln neighborhood are taking to social media to voice their concerns over recent crimes in their area.

Most live in apartments along Normal Boulevard near 40th Street.

Some of the crimes noted on social media include theft and vandalism.

Mary Hultgren, who said she lives at Antelope Gardens apartments, told Channel 8 that she noticed something strange on her car.

“I kind of just assumed it was fruit juice, or berry juice or something,” she said. “I ended up calling the non-emergency line and reported it. And that’s when they let me know there had been other break-ins around, and they assumed that it was blood.”

Police think someone cut their hand while trying to break into her car. Hultgren said this is the last thing she expected.

“I felt more violated, I guess, than I expected to,” she said. “Definitely induced a little bit of anxiety, especially if I need to get down to my car at night or something like that.”

She said this makes her feel very uneasy, especially with others claiming to experience the same problems.

“Definitely surprised that it got as many reactions as it did,” she said of her Nextdoor post. “I wasn’t expecting to have that many other people comment. Even the officer I talked to that came when I reported it, I wasn’t expecting it to be more of a trend. So it’s definitely a little unnerving.”

Hultgren said the apartment complex does have someone who drives around to keep an eye on things, but she says the complex doesn’t have security cameras.

And she said management has yet to address multiple concerns that people have brought to their attention.

Channel 8 reached out to Cheever Properties, which owns Antelope Gardens, but no one answered the phone.

An employee at Antelope Gardens said most of the crimes are happening in Park41, an adjacent apartment complex owned by a different company.

Channel 8 called the Park41 office on Wednesday evening, but no one answered there, either.