City alleges motels ‘facilitating’ criminal activity
Arkansas side targets businesses in lawsuits
The city of Texarkana, Ark., filed civil lawsuits Friday against three local motels it claims are “facilitating” criminal activity.
Texarkana lawyer Tommy Potter filed complaints on behalf of the city for “injunctive relief and abatement” in Miller County Circuit Court Friday afternoon against the
owners of the Ambassador Inn at 200 Realtor Ave.; the Country Host Inn at 900 Realtor Ave.; and the Red Roof Inn at 4300 N. State Line Ave. All of the complaints allege the motels are regular sites of unlawful activity that pose not only a threat to community safety but negatively affect the businesses operating nearby.
The court filings come the day after a proposed citywide business license was shot down through public outcry at a City Hall meeting. The idea behind the proposed license was to create a mechanism for holding business owners accountable if they allow criminal behavior that harms the local economy and threatens public safety on their premises. Under the now-defunct plan, a business owner could have been charged in district court for failing to prevent criminal activity at their business.
Local business owners complained that the proposed license and licensing fee are unfair to law-abiding proprietors who don’t tolerate or invite criminal activity. At least one business owner pointed out that Arkansas law already provides remedies for such nuisances. At the end of the meeting, City Manager Kenny Haskins agreed to table the license proposal.
Potter said the city decided to filed the civil complaints in circuit court after months of compiling data from the Texarkana, Ark., Police Department concerning criminal activity at the defendant motels. The goal of the legal actions is to protect the community and better utilize city resources, Potter said.
“We have a limited number of police officers on any given shift,” Potter said. “When they are getting tied up repeatedly in the same locations, it takes away from other areas.”
The complaint against the Ambassador lists 25 criminal violations that have occurred on the property from June 22, 2016, to Jan. 20, 2017, including domestic battery, theft of a firearm and drug crimes. The complaint against the Country Host Inn lists 13 criminal violations that have occurred on the property from Feb. 19 to Aug. 1, including rape, aggravated assault and drug crimes. The complaint against the Red Roof Inn lists 15 criminal violations that have occurred on the property from Feb. 13, 2016, to Feb. 2, 2017, including rape, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery and drug crimes.
According to the complaints, the businesses have developed reputations that attract criminal activity.
All three complaints ask the court to declare the defendant businesses a “common nuisance” as defined by Arkansas law and that they are detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the community. The complaints seek injunctions against the motels, which would force an end to the objectionable activities allegedly tolerated and “facilitated” on the properties.
The complaints list several remedies for achieving the goal of abating the common nuisance status. One option is to force a removal and sale of “all property used in conducting, maintaining, aiding or abetting the nuisance,” the complaints state. Another option is to close the business for a period of time to be determined by the court or to require the businesses to pay damages equal to the fair market value of the properties for a period of time to be determined by the court.
In addition, the complaints ask that the defendant businesses be ordered to pay the city’s attorney fees and court costs.
Gazette reporter Karl Richter contributed to this report.