Their landlord, Apex...had failed to pay rent on the 48,000-square-foot triangular lot at South Alameda and East 14th streets for more than a year, and owed $78,000, according to Caltrans, which sued the company for back rent in September.The property was one of five that Caltrans was attempting to evict Apex and another ...company [owned by the same man] from, including a plot along the 5 Freeway in Sun Valley and another a block away from the fire. All told, [the owner] owed about $620,000 to Caltrans in unpaid rent as of September, the agency said in court filings.Caltrans alleges that [the owner]’s firm secured leases of government-owned property with a host of restrictions, then turned around and broke the leases by illegally subletting to various businesses
Also this week in Los Angeles:
2 arson suspects arrested after more than a dozen fires in L.A.’s Eastside, Chinatown