Neighbors: Shuttered St. Alexius Hospital now a hub for crime

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - South City hospital, formally known as St. Alexius, has become a hub of crime, according to neighbors.

It now sits empty and people who live nearby say it’s enticing for thieves.

“I’ve seen like lots of guys come in and out of the place,” said Jacob Lenharth. “They show up in trucks, stripping wires for copper inside. They took other things, they scavenge the place.”

Lenharth says he’s lived across the street from the old hospital for more than 20 years.

For months the hospital has been closed down, but neighbors say it’s seemingly open for thieves. Drone 4 captured video showing broken windows, graffiti, pushed out plywood and more.

Juarez Troupe has lived in the neighborhood for roughly a decade and says he noticed strange activity that began a few months ago.

“I’ve seen cars come up on that parking lot and they’ll sit there, and they’ll play the music loud but it’s probably some young guys,” said Troupe.

First Alert 4 reached out to city police to see how many times they’ve been called out, but we didn’t get a response as of Thursday evening.

“People are coming in stealing copper, it’s a little unfortunate,” said Lenharth. “I feel like if the city were to go up in there and bring the place back up to what it used to be. I think it’ll be great.”

Lenharth says he’s noticed police swarming the area dozens of times, even patrolling for a few hours. However he says thieves just keep coming back.

According to property records on St. Louis City’s website, the old hospital is now owned by SA Acquisition Group based out of California. We tried contacting the owners, but didn’t get a response.

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