Senior complex wrestling with bed bug infestation

ATLANTA - Residents at a southwest Atlanta senior complex are wrestling with a bed bug problem.

Rod Bolden's 94-year-old mother lives at Big Bethel Village Senior Housing Community. Bolden said the bugs first appeared in his mother's unit about a year ago, and then reappeared about nine months later.

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"It has affected my mother to the point where she can't even sleep in her bed, so she was sleeping in her chair," said Bolden.

It's not just Bolden's apartment. Her son and others told FOX 5 News that several units and some of the community's common areas are infested.

Caregiver Leeshell Alexander's client lives at the southwest Atlanta complex, and unlike some of her neighbors, has been able to keep bed bugs at bay. Alexander believes management at Big Bethel Village are doing their best to get rid of the nasty critters.

"I will say that the management is trying. Yhey have gotten Orkin in there. But, because of the way that it's being handled, one unit at a time, or a few units at a time, and not a clean sweep, it's very hard to get the bed bugs at one time."

Bolden's mother's apartment was treated on three separate occasions, but the bugs won't budge, so Bolden's trying to find her a new home.

"I want my mother to get a good night's sleep. She's 94 years old. She pays $1,000 a month. She is deserving of a good night's sleep there. She doesn't deserve to sleep in a chair. She doesn't deserve to go down to the common area and be infested by bed bugs."