Residents criticize security at crime-ridden NJ building where 7-year-old girl was attacked

Security criticized at NJ tower where girl raped

TRENTON, N.J. — Residents of a crime-ridden New Jersey apartment building where several men and boys are accused of gang-raping a 7-year-old girl say they remain unsatisfied about security after a meeting with representatives from the company that owns it.

Some Rowan Towers residents who attended Wednesday’s meeting say the Interstate Realty Management Co. and police offered no solutions for improving security and ended the meeting when dissatisfied tenants began raising their voices.

Management company spokeswoman Laura Zaner says the building plans to hire a consultant to improve security.

She says residents who were arrested on unrelated warrants during a police raid a few days after the rape could be evicted if they admit or are convicted of serious crimes.

The building is in the downtown Trenton area and is surrounded by blocks of abandoned, boarded-up homes.