Criminal investigators have seized a cellphone that belongs to an owner of the Alpine Motel Apartments, the site of a December fire that left six dead.
According to a Wednesday court filing, a search warrant issued Jan. 29 approved a search and seizure of the phone at the law office of Dominic Gentile, a criminal defense attorney who is representing the owner, Adolfo Orozco.
The Wednesday filing also accuses the Alpine’s former live-in property manager, Jason Casteel, of ordering Alpine maintenance man Don Bennett to bolt the building’s rear exit door shut.
Residents have said the bolted exit door left some trapped the night of the fire, including Bennett, who died. It was one of more than 40 fire code violations noted in an inspection of the property after the Dec. 21 blaze, including a defective fire alarm system and missing or inoperable smoke detectors.