“That astronomical figure is conservative,” said K. Philip Callahan, the city’s law director, in a complaint seeking a restraining order against “the ongoing nuisance activities” occurring at the the motel. “It does not include arrests made of individuals exiting the premises, or off-premises crimes and medical emergencies involving Rodeway Inn occupants.”
The city responds to the Rodeway Inn on a near-daily basis for reports of illegal drug use, overdoses and other crimes stemming from drug abuse — including domestic violence, assault, theft and prostitution, Callahan said.
The problems at the Rodeway Inn had appeared to be “escalating at an alarming rate,” Callahan said in the complaint, which also sought a preliminary injunction to keep the motel closed for a year and a permanent injunction to demolish it at the owner’s expense.
Rodeway owners could not be reached for comment.
The 73-room motel was on track to generate at least 300 calls for service by the end of this year, which represents a 69% increase in service calls from the property compared to 2022, he said.
Comparing the entirety of Rodeway Inn service calls in 2022 to those received this year by Oct. 5, there have been spikes in all types of crimes committed on the property. This, he said, includes 20 times as many theft offenses, four times as many violent offenses and nearly five times as many drug offenses have occurrences.
The city has discussed the criminal activity on the property with agents of the owner “on multiple occasions,” but their attempts to compel the owner to address the nuisance issues and bring the property into compliance with applicable law have proven unsuccessful, he said.
“Circumstances at the Rodeway Inn are trending in a dangerous direction, and the Owner is apparently complacent to sit back and watch the chaos spiral,” Callahan said.
A significant amount of Miamisburg’s first responder time and energy was devoted just to the Rodeway Inn property “to the detriment of the rest of the community,” he said.
“The amount of first responder time dominated by the Rodeway Inn threatens the lives and safety of those in need of emergency services elsewhere in the City, as well as law enforcement and medical personnel” responding there,” Callahan said.
“A substantial portion” of the criminal nuisance activity occurring on the site is related to illicit drug use, he said.
Residents of the motel were told they had to relocate Monday because calls to the site have made it a “significant threat to the public safety,” according to city and court officials. A team representing the city’s police, building and public works departments, plus members of the Tactical Crime Suppression Unit task force conducted the operation, police said. On site Monday to help get the motel’s residents moved were social services through Montgomery County, Montgomery County Animal Resource Center, Homefull and Miami Valley Fair Housing Center.
Miamisburg Assistant City Manager Emily Christian said the city has experienced similar issues at a couple properties in near proximity to the Rodeway Inn.
“This has existed over decades but has become more prolific with the passage of time,” Christian told this news outlet Tuesday.
Red Roof Inn across the street at 222 Byers Road is at 246 police calls for service for the first 9 months of 2023 (2.46 calls for service, or CFS, per room) and had a total of 384 in 2022. Another property, Quality Inn at 250 Byers Road had a total of 119 calls for service in 2022 and has increased to 226 through the first nine months of 2023 (2.26 CFS per room).
A generally accepted standard regarding level of calls for service per room is 1.2 or lower, according to Miamisburg Police Chief John Sedlak.
Christian said Miamisburg police have worked with and tried to assist hotel/motel management over the years. To aid in a proactive approach, Miamisburg is considering new regulations requiring hotels to obtain an operator’s license to operate in the city, she said.
“Those regulations would allow more review (and) oversight of these uses by the city moving forward in an attempt to curtail any issues before they get to a higher level of concern,” Christian said.
The serious nature of the number of calls originating from the Rodeway Inn became apparent when comparing it to four other similarly situated hotel/motel properties in the area, Callahan said.
Those properties are a 58-room Super 8 a half a mile away, an 84-room Springhill Suites one mile away, a 56-room Comfort Suites less than two miles away and a 108-room Home2 Suites about 3.5 miles away.
Those hotels collectively account for a total of 306 calls for emergency service between Jan. 1, 2022 and Oct. 5, 2023, he said.
The Rodeway Inn’s 401 calls for service over the same time period are “different and telling” not just in terms of quantity, but also severity, Callahan said.
For example, during the same 21-month period, Rodeway Inn saw twice as many theft offenses than those reported from all four of the comparable hotels combined, three times as many violent and sex offenses, 10 times as many drug offenses and at least four times as many drug overdoses.
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