LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -
The owner of a home in Summerlin, which was the focus of a large cleanup effort, was taken into police custody Friday on multiple misdemeanor charges.
Kenneth Epstein, 55, owns the home at 9517 Gold Bank Drive, where police uncovered, what they called, the worst case of hoarding they've ever seen.
Forty-one tons of items were removed from the home, including 55 cats. Forty animals were living and 15 were dead, according to city officials.
Charges filed against Epstein include failure to register a pistol, two counts of public nuisance, one count of unjustifiable injury to animals, one count of failure to have a cat fanciers license, and one count of violation of the city's fire code.
Cleanup crews were sent out to the duplex after multiple calls from neighbors were made to the city about the problem. Those problems included excessive cockroaches.
Epstein's family was concerned, because he had been living outside since the duplex was deemed an uninhabitable health hazard last week. The city offered Epstein temporary housing, but he refused it, opting to sleep in his back patio.
According to the city, Epstein's family hopes that taking him into custody will be in the best interests of his safety, so they can start an intervention process.
A psychiatric evaluation will take place over the next 72 hours, authorities said.
Copyright 2012 KVVU (KVVU Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
A cleanup crew with three trucks is tacking what Metro police called "the worst case of hoarding we ever seen." (Christian Cazares/FOX5)
Kenneth Epstein (Photo from the City of Las Vegas)
