LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Masked bandits broke into a man's apartment through the ceiling. No, they’re not human, but raccoons.
After complaining for months, it’s no longer a laughing matter for tenant Ray O’Neal.
O’Neal resides in an apartment complex off Rangeland Road in Newburg, and he said he’s had enough of the raccoons, but management wasn’t helping.
He just wants the raccoons to leave.
"I don't know how to feel," O'Neal said about the raccoon ruckus. "I'm paying my rent on time. They want their money. I'm asking for something simple. It's taking longer than it is. I'm well over being patient."
O’Neal started hearing the sounds more than a year ago. In photos and videos, he sent to WHAS11, you can see several raccoons perched on his building, poking out of holes, and unbothered by his presence.
"They up there, I do not know what they're doing," O'Neal said of the sounds from the ceiling. "It sounds like two toddlers fighting each other, I mean it's so loud. It kept me and the kids up at night. My girl didn't want to come over. It was just scary, you know?"
Then within the last few months, they've been coming into his apartment, causing damage and creating safety concerns.
"As a parent, not helping my kids or they have to endure this, I feel weak," he said of the experience. "I feel like I'm not doing my part."
WHAS11 called the apartment complex with O’Neal’s complaints. After someone answered, we were transferred to the manager. We explained O’Neal’s situation but was hung up on shortly after. After attempting to call back, the call went to voicemail.
We then drove out to the complex to try and speak with the management in person. An employee told us to sit at a table, but then told us the manager would not be speaking to us.
"Do you guys want to provide us a statement?" reporter Hayley Minogue asked.
"I can't, wouldn't, won't, but she might maybe when she's done," an employee told WHAS11. "She's talking to our area manager and will be for a little bit."
"Can I leave a note with my number?" Minogue asked, then wrote her number on a sticky note for the manager.
The apartment management has not responded to WHAS11, but about an hour after leaving the complex, O'Neal reached out and said the complex called him stating they would fix the problem.
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