Little Rock hotels fed up with Motel 6 crimes; city says their hands are tied

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — A Little Rock Motel 6 is causing problems for its neighbors as hundreds of police calls have been made over the last few years.

The general managers of two hotels right next door said they’re fed up and want the city to take action.

Through a Freedom of Information Act request, KATV found out Little Rock Police have been called to this Motel 6 at least 1,098 times since August 2016.

Police call logs show they have responded to 10524 W. Markham Street for crimes ranging from rape and kidnapping to possession of drugs and dead bodies.

Rahul Patel, the general manager of the Comfort Inn West located next door, told Channel 7 they have poured millions of dollars into making his place clean and safe. Patel added that they do not allow their guests to pay with cash and they must have identification – which should match a debit card.

For Patel, the Motel 6 is a constant headache.

“Often people will just stroll in here from over there - thinking they can eat our free breakfasts,” he said. “We have had TVs stolen, we've had items out of our rooms stolen. We have had people just thinking they can just go in a room and sleep...I’m tired of having to spend extra man power always being on edge, my staff could be unsafe, my guests could be unsafe because of what's going on over there."

While shooting this story on Friday, a man who identified himself as one of the owners of Motel 6 said he had no comment and quickly got into his car.

On the other side of the motel is the Candlewood Suites hotel and its general manager, Thui Chi, said she's given up on reaching out to Motel 6's management and hopes the city will handle this. Chi also has security measures in place for her guests, including a privacy fence.

"I would like them to try to see if we can close down that property, they should look at the police record,” said Chi. "I would love the city to really pay attention to that because it's not a once a month or once a week, it is daily visit that they have from the police officers.”

Patel said over the years he has reached out to the City of Little Rock but continues to hit roadblocks.

"For our hotel here that's a horrible look. I can't continue to afford losing clientele because of that place and the city doing nothing about it," he added. "I reached out to the city attorney and just sent them pictures of everything that's been going on there, they have been very nonchalant about it. Always pass the buck off to state statutes, never willing to do anything about it.”

Just this week, Patel contacted the city attorney, Tom Carpenter, who suggested to Patel that he should file a private nuisance lawsuit. KATV confirmed this with Carpenter.

Carpenter also told KATV the city’s hands are tied considering the Arkansas Supreme Court has made it clear that a city must prove the owners are causing problems in order to use the public nuisance statute to shut the place down.

Carpenter added, the city would gladly be a witness if a private suit was filed, although Patel said he has no intentions on spending his own money to solve a city problem.