SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — For months at Chuckatuck Square Apartments in Suffolk, an alarm has been going off, loud enough to wake up everyone in the house.
And it doesn’t stop for hours.
“We thought it was a firetruck at first,” said Michelle Hadley, who lives nearby.
But unlike a fire truck – this sound didn’t fade. It kept going at the same volume for hours.
“It’s gone off from a Sunday at 1 p.m. to at least 6:30 Monday when I’m leaving for work. It’s at least six hours every time,” Hadley said.
Hadley estimates the alarm has gone off 15 times since February.
10 On Your Side has heard similar stories from people who live in or near the Chuckatuck Square Apartments, like Hadley.
“We found out that it was the septic alarm at the Chuckatuck Apartments,” Hadley said.
Hadley got that information straight from the apartment office. But figuring out the source of the noise didn’t make it stop.
“She told us they wouldn’t be able to help us, they didn’t have a service tech 24/7 so there was nothing they could do about it.”
So, Hadley started calling Suffolk’s non-emergency police line.
“They started telling us they couldn’t help because it’s private property,” Hadley said. “He said it’s not a noise complaint issue because it’s not a man-made noise – so he equated it to a car alarm as if a car alarm were going off they wouldn’t be able to stop it because it’s not man-made. We thought that was funny, too.”
Hadley is done with the sleepless nights — but she didn’t know what else she could do.
“We don’t have the time or money, we work and we don’t have the money to do a civil lawsuit so we’re like maybe 10 On Your Side could help us out and that might be the way to go.”
10 On Your Side made some calls, and found out there seems to be different information coming out of TM Associates Management, out of Maryland, which manages Chuckatuck Square.
A city spokesperson said they’re under the impression the alarm is fixed.
But a TM Associates supervisor said they’re still working on fixing the faulty alarm — and that hopefully, by next week, it will be done.
“My hope is that they have someone who can service it,” Hadley said. “We would like for it not to be going off for hours on end.”
The alarm hasn’t sounded for a few weeks, but Hadley said that’s happened before — only to have it start up again.
10 On Your Side will be following up with TM Associates next week for proof the alarm has been fixed.
We’re also still working to find out from the city why there isn’t some kind of code to enforce, if this happens again.
