Bed Bug Infestation Forces OKC Woman Out Of Pine Ridge Apartments

A bed bug infestation forces an Oklahoma City woman out of her apartment.

Karen Bookout has lived at Pine Ridge Apartments on S.W. 63rd and Santa Fe for nearly a year.

"It's not my fault, you know, I didn't bring these bed bugs in here," Bookout said the bed bugs moved in last month.

Bookout said she complained to management, but they claimed it was her fault.

"She said where did they come from, and I said I don't know you tell me," Bookout recalled.

Soon after the complaint, management issued a pest control notice asking some tenants to bag their belongings for an exterminator.

Bookout said she tried to comply but was never given a date for when her apartment would be sprayed.

An eviction notice came next.

10/2/2012 Related Story: OKC Apartment Complex Charges Residents To Exterminate Bed Bugs

"These letters just made me feel like it's my fault," Bookout believes her new neighbor brought the bugs to the complex.

The manager wouldn't confirm that theory in an interview, but she gave Bookout that explanation while our camera was rolling.

"She brought some in when she got a new bed," said Bookout's manager while standing in the doorway of Bookout's apartment. "We've been trying since last Thursday to correct this."

Bookout feels the opposite and wants to move out. She notified the Oklahoma City County Health Department of the infestation.

"We can only give notice to the management," Troy Skow, Consumer Protection at the OCCH Department, said they send out inspectors and then notify apartments.

He said, ultimately, the management of the apartment must address the issue and work with its tenants.

Bookout said that's not enough for her to stay in her lease. She wants to move out and hopes management will give back her deposit so she can find a new place to stay.