Thursday, September 07, 2006

On Thursday, September 07, 2006 at 7:37 a.m., a man approached a student waiting for a bus at the intersection of Lake Edward Drive and East Hastings Arch and exposed himself to her.

The suspect is described as a black male, 35-45 years of age. He is approximately 6’ tall with a very thin build. At the time of the exposure he was wearing a white t-shirt, black baseball cap and black tennis shoes. Following the incident, the suspect was seen getting into the drivers side of a blue van that had been parked down the street with the engine running.

School officials will be sending home a letter advising parents of students attending the following schools: Bayside High School, Bayside Middle School, and Betty F. Williams and Newtown Elementary Schools.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is encouraged to call Virginia Beach Crime Solvers at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (1-888-562-5887). Callers remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 if their information leads to an arrest.

This case remains under investigation by the Department’s Special Victims Unit with Detective David Swan as the lead investigator.

The Pines Apartments, 1302 Pine Cone Circle Virginia Beach, VA 23456, owned by Great Atlantic Management is unresponsive to maintenance needs and tenant complaints. Concerned citizens may want to avoid The Pines apartments or any other apartments owned by Great Atlantic Management if they will be residing in Hampton Roads. Navy personnel are encouraged to stay away from The Pines especially if they are sea going and their spouse will be residing in Virginia Beach.

A few reasons to avoid The Pines include mice in the apartments and loud noise. The smell is horrible when the mice die and the Pines apartment office does very little to correct obvious health hazards. The maintenance is poor and most fixes are short term in nature even though they would save money and man-hours if they were to make permanent long-term fixes to problems such as water leaks. 

If you do live in The Pines apartments and office personnel do not assist you, try contacting Great Atlantic Management. Unfortunately, their management style is not great so you can be sure they won’t respond. You should contact them though since The Pines employees, including the office manager, work for them.

You should also contact Great Atlantic Management if The Pines apartment maintenance personnel are rude, unresponsive or do not fix the problem you’ve reported. Usually, if you do complain to The Pines office concerning poor or no maintenance, they will say that maintenance does not work for them and they cannot do anything. That is not true. If the office manager does not resolve the issue and the maintenance supervisor does not fix the problem, Great Atlantic Management should. In addition, contrary to what they may believe, the office manager is not the final authority.

Don’t hesitate to contact Virginia Beach City Attorney’s Office to seek assistance in filing a complaint against The Pines apartments. If they can’t help you directly, they may be able to point you in the right direction. Either way, you’ll usually get a response from the Virginia Beach Attorney’s Office – they seem to care.

• Pines of Green Run Apartments
• The Pines Apartment Rating and Reviews in Virginia Beach
  hell no!
• Great Atlantic Management BBB reliability report
• The Pines Apartments Rip Off Report 
• OIG Virginia Audit Report - Title: Great Atlantic Management CO., Inc.

If you have complaints about The Pines of Green Run in Virginia Beach, you can use these resources to let others know and to help get issues resolved.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (VRLTA) Handbook

• The City’s Code Enforcement for Virginia Beach handles complaints against building safety and hazardous issues. They can be reached at 385-4421. 
• The Consumer Affairs division answers questions regarding the Landlord/Tenant Act and can guide the consumers in which actions they can take. They can be reached 385-5836. 
• VDACS - Landlord-Tenant Frequently Asked Questions
• Renter’s Rights and Responsibilities: The Basics
• If you are in the Navy, notify housing. Eventually they will steer Sailors who are relocating away from The Pine apartments if they receive enough complaints. It can be really rough when a spouse’s significant other is at sea and the Pines apartment office doesn’t do their job.
• Notify Virginia Beach City Attorney’s Office. They may be able to point you in the right direction depending on the type of complaint.
• File a report with the Better Business Bureau of Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern Carolina.

Let others know

• Rip Off Report 
• Complaints.com 
• My3cents.com 

If you are aware of other resources that may assist others, feel free to add a comment below or you may contact Hampton Roads Crime.