On Monday, Carson Chambers at WBTV reported about the City of Charlotte filing a temporary restraining order against the Star Choice Hotel and Residence. This is the first legal step in getting the hotel shut down.I went down to the courthouse and obtained a copy of the preliminary injunction. From what I read, it is perfectly clear this hotel is a one stop shop for drugs, prostitution and other criminal activity. Hopefully, the Judge who hears this case will make the right decision and shut down this crime infested hotel until they clean it up.
The hotel is located at 3024 East Independence Blvd. I took a trip to the hotel and took some photos. Of course, I was not about to go inside and get a look but the outside was enough... if you want to judge a book but its cover. The exterior of the building is run down. The parking garage looks as if it is about to collapse and the swimming pool is run down.
On December 30, 2003, Chican Hospitality Ltd. purchased the Star Choice Hotel. According to the court records, Chican Hospitality is a corporation organized in Alberta, Canada. The hotel opened in January of 2004.Several CMPD police officers' sworn statements are included in the court documentation. Police say the street crimes division started to receive information and complaints about the hotel soon after it was opened.
The complaints included drug sales and prostitution occurring on the property and surrounding area on a daily basis. Police learned that several residents of the hotel are convicted criminals and even the so-called "security guards" were involved in the illegal activity.
Police met with the owners and managers of the hotel numerous times over the past few years. Officers tried to work with the owners to take steps to eliminate the criminal activity occurring on the premises.
The hotel management does not have any controls in place to limit access to the building or the hotel parking garage. They did not have any check-in policies and they were allowing 3rd parties to pay for others' rooms.On several occasions, the hotel owners and management committed to improving the conditions of the hotel and take steps to curtail the illegal activities happening on the property.
In 2005, the hotel Manager signed a letter of commitment entering the "Crime Free Hotel/Motel Program" and wrote a letter to the Chief Stephens expressing his desire to commit to the program. Clearly, the hotel owners and management were giving the police lip service.
In addition to the problem with criminal activity at the hotel, the local residents who live behind the hotel have been invaded. Residents of the Echo Hills neighborhood have seen an increase in criminal activity in their neighborhood. Neighborhood residents have been robbed at gunpoint, prostitutes wonder the streets in front of their homes, drug deals are made in the street and they have had an increase of home break-ins.
Police have conducted three undercover sting operations at the Star Choice Hotel.The first operation was in April of 2006. It lasted for one hour- from 2:00-3:00 in the afternoon. In one hour, police were able to purchase crack & cocaine from two different people. They were solicited by one male and one female prostitute. Police saw one hand to hand drug transaction and found a used condom in the stairwell.
In addition to the criminal activities, police documented that the rooms are unsanitary. They observed heavily soiled mattresses with what appeared to be urine and other bodily fluids.
Police conducted the second sting operation in May of 2006. The sting lasted for three hours from 5:00pm-8:00pm. Undercover police purchased drugs from five different people. They were solicited by one prostitute and busted a woman for smoking a crack pipe in the parking lot.
In November of 2006, police conducted the third sting operation. The sting was two hours long and police were able to purchase marijuana, crack, cocaine and were solicited by one prostitute. In addition to busting the criminals, police arranged for a third party purchase of a room and the hotel allowed it.
From January 1, 2003 to November 30, 2006, police responded to 559 service calls at the Star Choice Hotel and they filed 121 criminal offense reports. During this time period, police arrested 108 people who were either inside or outside the Star Choice Hotel. (see slide show below for photos)In the Echo Hills neighborhood, which the Star Choice Hotel is a part of, police have filed 366 Part I crime incident reports. Part I incidents include the crimes of homicide, rape, robbery, larceny, drug possession, rape, vehicle theft, assault and arson.
Another notable thing to mention is that the Star Choice Hotel & Residence represents itself on the internet as having "clean and quality rooms at affordable rates." Can you imagine coming in from out of town expecting a decent hotel and find this place? One thing they say on the website is probably true... "Many returning guests swear by us!" However, they fail to mention the 'returning guests' are criminals.
The following slide show contains mugshots of the criminals who reside at the Star Choice Hotel and those who have been arrested on the premises:
14 COMMENTS:
doesn't look like it has a Disney theme :)
Excellent work. You are a much better blogger than I :)
I'm pretty sure Elvis stayed there in 1976... No joke!
Thank you for publishing this information. I live in the Echo Hills community and I am afraid to go out at night. When I moved here, it was a nice community. You are right, we have been invaded!
As a resident of Echo Hills, I can say I've never seen a prostitute get picked up or a drug deal go down in the neighborhood. Not to say this has never happened, but I would say it is far from a common occurrence. Those hotels are certainly a problem, but if you remove the crime numbers from the businesses around the neighborhood, the crime in the neighborhood is quite low.
I'm not arguing that the hotel is a not magnet for crime. It should be closed. However, when you refer in your blog to "the neighborhood behind the hotel," you appear to be referring to Echo Hills which was named earlier in the blog. After running the reported incidents for the same dates in Echo Hills on the charmeck police website, I found that no murders or rapes occurred in the neighborhood.
There has been a fair amount of property crime, but to characterize Echo Hills as a neighborhood where people are getting killed raped and robbed seems to me to be misleading based on the crime data available.
In response to my neighbor who is afraid to go outside at night and posted above, I walk my dogs frequently at night. I hardly ever see another person, let alone anything that would seem threatening.
On Crime:
What's the next step? Will the city seek to have the place demolished?
Matt,
I certainly did not mean to imply the Echo Hills neighborhood in a bad light. I took a drive through your neighborhood when I was over there and it is a nice clean community. I saw people outside in their yards, people walking, etc. I didn’t see any prostitutes or people who looked like drug dealers—or any of the things I’ve read in the lawsuit.
Unfortunately, the Star Choice Hotel is considered part of the ‘Echo Hills neighborhood.’ All of the statistical information in this post is taken directly from the court documents the city filed and CMPD contributed to. One of the main topics in the suit is how this hotel has directly affected the Echo Hills residential part of the neighborhood. The hotel is seen as a “public nuisance.”
Here are a couple parts regarding Echo Hills:
“The Plaintiff’s relator is informed, believes, and therefore alleges the Defendant by and through its management’s tolerance of illicit drug activity and prostitution has created an environment that directly contributes to other types of criminal activity in the surrounding community which includes a residential neighborhood and small businesses. “
“The Plaintiff’s relator is informed, believes, and therefore alleges the Defendant is violating the rights of the citizens of the Echo Hills and surrounding community and its residents are suffering immediate and irreparable harm in that:
(a) Members of the community are being deprived of the quiet enjoyment of their homes and neighborhoods due to illicit drug use/sales and other related activities.
(b) Members of the community live in constant fear for their safety because of the frequent incidents involving violence including robbery, assaults with weapons and other breaches of peace.”
I am glad you have not had the same experiences as some of your neighbors. Here are some of the things your neighbors have had to deal with:
- They see prostitutes walking the street, hanging out on the street corner & cabs searching the area for prostitutes.
- They have been solicited for sex when outside doing yard work by prostitutes.
- Strangers knocking on doors and people soliciting money when outside doing their yard work.
- People have found crack pipes in their yard on several occasions.
- People have been robbed at gunpoint.
- Numerous breaks-in and property crimes.
You are correct, no murders or rapes have occurred in the residential part of Echo Hills. I see one sexual assault charge but it does not elaborate.
Prior to the opening of the hotel, the crime rate and calls for service in the residential part of Echo Hills was low. After the hotel’s opening, the crime rate has grown steadily every month in the residential part of Echo Hills.
As soon as I purchase a scanner, I will upload all the docs.
The next step is a hearing for a preliminary injunction on Feb 15th at 2:30pm in Superior Court.
The city has filed for a preliminary injunction (temporary shut down) until the case can be heard in court. Ultimately, the city is seeking a permanent injunction to shut the place down for good.
If the court grants a permanent shut down, I don't know if they will demolish the hotel or if the owners will have to sell it.
I AM SSSSOOOOOO GLAD this hotel is being FORCED to shut down, YES IT WILL BE SHUT DOWN! I live in the neighborhood and no I don't feel unsafe but I HATE that hotel and its been a bother and YES crime has increased! NOW if ONLY we could shut off Fugate @ Independence! I am so glad the police dept and the city finally realized this place needs to be shut down! All Echo Hills residents NEED to be at that hearing, to support having a beautiful neighborhood. I can ONLY hope and pray that after the Star Choice closes, another crappy establishment opens. I vote to tear that eye sore down! Thanks for posting this blog too!!!
I totally agree that the hotel needs to go. I'm glad the city is using Echo Hills to attempt to rid of large crime magnet. The city has dragged its feet for years. Having worked for local government I can tell you that there are many of these hotels in the area that need taken care of and I am glad to see progress getting made.
I also appreciate clarifying your comments. When I read the article before it seemed to imply that Echo Hills was being turned into a slum because of this hotel. I certainly think that Star Choice hotel, and the hotel next to it and across the street, certainly adds to any problems we have had.
One note however. This may be splitting hairs, but by looking at the cities NSA maps, it appears the hotel building and address are part of the Coliseum Drive NSA, if only by a few yards. Though really a line on a map isn't that significant.
http://ww.charmeck.org/qol/template.asp?id=56
I just took a walk in my great neighborhood of Echo Hills. I've lived here for almost 12 years and love my neighborhood for its well-built homes, close proximity to downtown and great neighbors.
While some residents not living on Fugate (which runs behind the hotel) might not experience as much "activity" from hotel occupants, the hotel has been a major problem for us as one can see from the info on this website.
While I greatly appreciate the info included in this website, which seems to contain a combination of affidavits filed against the hotel from neighbors and crime stats from the surrounding area, there is some confusion as to what determines the boundaries for Echo Hills.
In the police crime stats, there are many streets like Monroe Rd., Washburn, Indep., etc.,that somehow qualify as Echo Hills although the neighborhood association doesn't recognize these streets as our boundaries.
As far as I know, being "robbed at gunpoint" hasn't happened in Echo Hills. But because it happened so close to us we still should be concerned.
I think we all agree the hotel has been allowed to operate for too long and become a haven for crime. Let's hope it goes!!
OC:
This is good information that helps neighborhoods improve for the better. This is the kind of thing the city, an not a private blogger, should be doing.
The city should be funding this site.
Just implode the darn place. ....just what we need...a breeding ground for criminals. Great reporting on this issue.
WHERE DEMONS DWELL - A HAUNTING the vermin that reside inside the hotel will disperse into other welfare accepting apartments or government subsidised housing where they will bring there 'lifestyle' to a new bunch of neighbors.
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