GALVESTON — Just last week, authorities charged 11 people with living illegally in a storm-battered and condemned apartment complex, but neighbors say its open doors and broken windows are still spawning crime, with 10 burglaries reported nearby during the weekend.

Jim Davis’ flood-damaged condominium at Ashton Place and Williams Drive was among those targeted Friday night.

His condo took in 3 feet of water when Hurricane Ike slammed into Galveston on Sept. 13. The storm caused severe flooding here and damaged much of the upper Texas coast.

The city on Oct. 7 condemned Ashton Place apartment complex, just a stone’s throw from Davis’ condo. The apartments still resemble a war zone, with trash littering many of the 176 units, which people had turned into a rent-free lair.

“I see lights on over there day and night,” Davis said. “Police say they’ve been rounding people up ... My neighbor has been broken into two or three times. Those apartments were down before the storm, but now they’re really bad.”

A muddy boot print remained Monday on a condo door within a couple inches of a tarnished and rusting door handle. Davis said nothing was taken from his house, because there was nothing of value in it. Police did take fingerprints during their probe of the burglaries and broken door frames.

“They ruffled through all of my stuff,” Davis said. “Some had TVs stolen.”

Jennifer Reynolds / The Daily News

Workers board up windows at a storm-battered apartment complex in Galveston.

Police have stepped up patrol of the area after having received numerous complaints and reports of crime, said Lt. D.J. Alvarez of Galveston police. Officers routinely check the apartments for occupants, which the condemned status prohibits. Alvarez said people squatting in the complex likely are to blame for recent burglaries.

Some of the condemned apartments, which the city said are owned by Agape Ashton-Woodstock Inc. and Bank New York-Mellon, have electricity connected, leading Davis to wonder about a fire hazard.

A call Monday afternoon to the Galveston fire chief’s office wasn’t returned, but Wendy O’Donohoe, director of the city’s Planning and Community Development Department, said the city hasn’t requested the power be disconnected and would continue to monitor the situation by staying in contact with a contractor.

Tommy Rodriguez was among a group of men from San Antonio sent Monday to board windows and doors to keep people out of the complex.

Rodriguez told his crew not to enter the apartments alone for fear of running into a person or one of the families of rats the crew had seen on the first day.

Attempts to contact the apartment owners were unsuccessful. A Galveston police officer was escorting a man Monday who declined to give his name but said he was working for the owner of the complex.

When asked why the owners waited nearly four months to board the eyesore, he referred the question to the owners but had no contact information for them.

Before the storm’s landfall, the city sent the owner notice to repair balconies, cut high weeds and grass, to secure the swimming pool and clean the property of trash and debris, O’Donohoe said. The city has not assessed fines, but the boarding of windows and doors was done at the city’s request, she said.

It is unclear what would happen next to the complex.

The owners have until Wednesday to seek building repair permits from the city, which the city mandated when it condemned the property, yet no such permits have been requested, O’Donohoe said.

Cleaning up or securing the property, however, requires no permit, O’Donohoe said. The crew contracted to board the buildings said they would be finished in about a week.