A nightmare Los Angeles landlord has been accused of menacing her tenants by setting their cars on fire and hitting them with bear spray, among other savage attacks.
Downtown LA landlord Nela Petrusan faced criminal harassment charges in court Wednesday for the alleged threats of violence, which also included threatening to call immigration officials on residents and verbally berating them.
Tenant Daniel Zuniga said Petrusan destroyed his property in an incident a couple of years ago.
“She has lit my car on fire and destroyed my car,” he told Fox 11, providing footage of his vehicle’s trunk in flames.
Another tenant, Olga Moreira, also accused Petrusan of setting her car on fire, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Petrusan has denied the alleged arson.
“I’ve never lit any cars on fire,” she told Fox 11. “Show me the date, and we’ll see. We’ll play all the cameras.”
Zuniga also accused her of bear-spraying him, and another tenant said she verbally accosted him.
“Nela will be talking through her door, swearing at us, insulting us, calling us [expletives]… all sorts of weird crap,” the tenant, Jacob, told the outlet.
Residents even shared a photo of Petrusan’s maintenance worker boyfriend with what appeared to be a gun in his pocket.
“I’ve never owned a gun in my entire life. Ever,” the boyfriend, Jeremy, said.
Moreira accused Petrusan in a lawsuit of threatening to shoot her.
“You fat a— b—, I’m gonna getta gun and I’m gonna shoot you right in the f— head,” Petrusan allegedly yelled at Moreira, according to the suit.
Petrusan has pending civil and criminal cases against her, according to court records. Two of the civil cases, filed in 2024 and 2025, alleged breach of lease contract and a landlord-tenant habitability issue.
She’s denied any issues with the apartment, despite allegations of neglecting repairs.
“There’s no habitability issue here,” she said. “All I do is clean here and they want to send me to jail for 20 years for trying to clean my apartments.”
Petrusan is set to return to court for her next hearing next month.
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