Elderly residents protested outside the Peternana Terrace Senior Apartments in Freeport Wednesday, saying a broken elevator in the building has stranded residents and may have caused the death of a tenant. 

As News 12 has reported, the only elevator inside the five-story complex has been out of commission for two weeks. 

"It's unacceptable," says Calvin DuBois. "They've got people in wheelchairs stuck up on the fourth and fifth floors in the building."

Residents say the death of 82-year-old Madison Caldwell, a resident on the third floor, can be attributed to the elevator problem. He died on Tuesday.  

"He walked down the stairs…by the time he got to the hospital, he was in cardiac arrest and within an hour or two, he was gone," says Cynthia DuBois-Stuart. "I personally attribute it to him over-exerting himself walking down the stairs to get himself some help." 

In a statement to News 12, a spokesperson for Catholic Charities, which owns the building, said "We spoke with the health care proxy and the daughter of the man in question, and the man's death had nothing to do with Catholic Charities or the elevator in the building."

The building's management told tenants it will take eight weeks to repair to elevator.