WASHINGTON — Cellphone video and pictures showing four inches of raw sewage and feces floating on the floor of basement units inside Penn Circle Condominiums on 27th Street, SE told the first part of the story.  Property Manager Paul Gallagher and residents Rasheema Brawner and Handi Wakatama told the second part of the story.

“I woke up to the sound of my toilet it sounded like water was just gushing out,” recalled Wakatama.  

It was December 23, 2019.  Wakatama’s nine-month-old son Phillip Junior was home when raw sewage rose from toilets, tubs, and drains.  

A few doors down, Rasheema Brawner came home to the mess.  She lost all their Christmas gifts but is thankful her daughter, who just turned one, is no longer crawling. 

“The floors are damaged, and they haven't been pulled up yet, so we don't know what's underneath,” explained Brawner. “But if there was sewage floating on top, of course, there is bacteria and disgust underneath of them.”