NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR – For the past couple of years, according to the North Little Rock Police Department (NLRPD), the motel that always leaves the light on, has been a dark spot for the city of North Little Rock.
Prostitution, murder, robbery and assault are part of just a selection of claims pointed toward the Motel 6 in North Little Rock.
The City sued the owners of the Motel 6 on West 29th street last October but the problems persist.
Police made an arrest there over the weekend for narcotics while on what’s called a “Directed Patrol” because of an alleged increase in prostitution and drug activity.
Directed patrols are usually something that lasts a week for people or businesses, for example, that have gone out of town. In this case it’s lasted more than a year.
“So many calls up there it was kind of a safety issue for the community,” explained NLRPD’s Public Information Officer, Sgt. Brian Dedrick. “Any time you have 300 calls in a year to the same location something’s not working.”
There are 15 pages worth of Police calls to the hotel in the last year. NLRPD has responded seven times in just the last week.
“A lot of seedy individuals in and out of here,” Erik Duncan suggested.
Duncan helped a friend move out Wednesday (2/4) and says he’s seen the activity first hand.
He said, “There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s prostitution going on because you can see them standing on the balcony at night sometimes.”
“Aggravated assault; Possession of drugs; Disturbances; Suspicious Activity,” Sgt. Dedrick read from the pages of calls.
“The list goes on and on,” remarked Nathan Hamilton, North Little Rock’s Director of Communications. “And that’s why we filed a lawsuit was because this place is a nuisance.”
According to Hamilton the lawsuit is working how they hoped. It hasn’t immediately stopped the criminal activity but he says the current owners may be in negotiations with a new buyer to take over ownership.
However, that would require the City drop the lawsuit.
Hamilton says city leaders would first want to know certain safety changes would be in place.
They suggest the motel require a name and credit card when someone wants a room.
“That takes the sheen of anonymity out of it,” said Hamilton. “When you’re not able to just walk in and plop down $30 bucks and get a room.”
We reached out to the owner of the motel. He didn’t have a comment. Motel 6 Media relations is out of town for the week.
Police say other motels/hotels in the city, even the one across the street owned by the same people, aren’t seeing the same kind of activity.
While he says the city can’t tell the owners how to run their business, the lawsuit provides leverage. If they were to remove it under certain conditions, Hamilton insists they would keep a watchful eye on the activity surrounding the Motel.
“It wouldn’t take us very long to realize that they’re not keeping up their end of the bargain,” he said. “If that is the case, we’ve got another lawsuit that we’re willing to shut them down again.”
Prostitution, murder, robbery and assault are part of just a selection of claims pointed toward the Motel 6 in North Little Rock.
The City sued the owners of the Motel 6 on West 29th street last October but the problems persist.
Police made an arrest there over the weekend for narcotics while on what’s called a “Directed Patrol” because of an alleged increase in prostitution and drug activity.
Directed patrols are usually something that lasts a week for people or businesses, for example, that have gone out of town. In this case it’s lasted more than a year.
“So many calls up there it was kind of a safety issue for the community,” explained NLRPD’s Public Information Officer, Sgt. Brian Dedrick. “Any time you have 300 calls in a year to the same location something’s not working.”
There are 15 pages worth of Police calls to the hotel in the last year. NLRPD has responded seven times in just the last week.
“A lot of seedy individuals in and out of here,” Erik Duncan suggested.
Duncan helped a friend move out Wednesday (2/4) and says he’s seen the activity first hand.
He said, “There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s prostitution going on because you can see them standing on the balcony at night sometimes.”
“Aggravated assault; Possession of drugs; Disturbances; Suspicious Activity,” Sgt. Dedrick read from the pages of calls.
“The list goes on and on,” remarked Nathan Hamilton, North Little Rock’s Director of Communications. “And that’s why we filed a lawsuit was because this place is a nuisance.”
According to Hamilton the lawsuit is working how they hoped. It hasn’t immediately stopped the criminal activity but he says the current owners may be in negotiations with a new buyer to take over ownership.
However, that would require the City drop the lawsuit.
Hamilton says city leaders would first want to know certain safety changes would be in place.
They suggest the motel require a name and credit card when someone wants a room.
“That takes the sheen of anonymity out of it,” said Hamilton. “When you’re not able to just walk in and plop down $30 bucks and get a room.”
We reached out to the owner of the motel. He didn’t have a comment. Motel 6 Media relations is out of town for the week.
Police say other motels/hotels in the city, even the one across the street owned by the same people, aren’t seeing the same kind of activity.
While he says the city can’t tell the owners how to run their business, the lawsuit provides leverage. If they were to remove it under certain conditions, Hamilton insists they would keep a watchful eye on the activity surrounding the Motel.
“It wouldn’t take us very long to realize that they’re not keeping up their end of the bargain,” he said. “If that is the case, we’ve got another lawsuit that we’re willing to shut them down again.”
