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Landlord arrested, accused of stealing electricity

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Lawrence Ayers faces fines of as much as $5,000 a day and has a hearing scheduled Monday on the code violations.

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By MARK  DOUGLAS | News Channel 8

Published: July 7, 2009

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Lawrence Ayers

A Pinellas County landlord was arrested Tuesday afternoon, accused of stealing electricity from apartments he owns in Clearwater.

Lawrence Ayers, 42, of 74 Bay Wood Drive in Safety Harbor, was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on a grand theft charge.

Ayers dropped out of sight after Progress Energy cut off power to eight residential rental units he owns on Westminister Avenue June 25th. That happened after the utility discovered someone had illegally and unsafely rigged the main power supply. Last week, Pinellas County code inspectors condemned the units as "unfit for human habitation."

A week before, code inspectors had condemned apartments Ayers owns on Meridian Avenue in Oldsmar because of similar electrical problems. That's where a Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy caught up with him Tuesday.

Cutting the power left as many as two dozen tenants from the Oldsmar and Clearwater rentals temporarily homeless. The Oldsmar tenants had to leave immediately, but several of Ayers' Clearwater tenants sweltered without air conditioning or lights for five or six days.

Most of the people there also had no water because Ayers had rigged a shallow well water pump as their only supply of water for drinking and bathing, according to authorities.

Inspectors said the water was not fit for drinking. It had a bright orange color, and tenants said it smelled horribly.

Code inspectors cited Ayers for numerous violations. He faces fines of as much as $5,000 a day and has a hearing scheduled Monday on the code violations.

Ayers has 11 pending foreclosure actions against his rental properties and his home in Safety Harbor, according to code enforcement officials. Last week, his wife, Kathryn Ayers, said Progress Energy had cut off power to their home, too, and that he didn't come home Thursday after deputies showed up looking for him.

Reporter Mark Douglas can be reached at (727) 451-2333.

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