29 November, 1989 (~estimated)

Court fines Kahn $525 in 120 Witherspoon case

Princeton Borough landlord Benjamin Kahn was ordered to pay $525 in fines for allowing seven men to live in a Witherspoon Street house that health officials had ordered closed.

Appearing in Princeton Borough Municipal Court Monday afternoon, Mr. Kahn was fined $500 plus $25 for the single charge he faced following the Nov. 7 poisoning of the seven residents of 120 Witherspoon St.

After two October inspections, Mr. Kahn was tagged with more than two dozen health and building code violations.

Inspectors ordered the landlord to keep tenants out of the building until the repairs were made. Rescue workers dragged five men out of the house after a faulty heater filled the rooms with carbon monoxide. All seven residents were hospitalized.

Su Fong Lee lost his left leg as a result and is suing Mr. Kahn for “gross, wanton and willful negligence with utter disregard to the life and safety of the persons known, to occupy the premises,” according to papers tiled with the court. Mr. Kahn’s wife, Rose, who is also named in the suit, declined to comment on the case.