City Attorney Mike Feuer sued the owner of the Motel 6 chain Monday, alleging the hospitality company and its managers allow rampant drug, gang and prostitution activity at its Sylmar property.
City attorneys filed a nuisance abatement lawsuit against G6 Hospitality Property LLC, which operates the Motel 6 chain, to "put a stop to what we allege is unrelenting crime and nuisance activity associated" with the motel at 12775 Encinitas Ave., Feuer said.
Representatives for G6 Hospitality, which acquired the Motel 6 chain in 2012, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"We allege it (the motel) is being used as a base from which well-known gang members and drug dealers operate," as well as where "human trafficking ... of sex workers" is taking place, Feuer said. "I want to hold G6, the owner of the Motel 6 chain, accountable for allowing these conditions to persist," Feuer said.
Feuer said there have been 10 arrests for prostitution at the motel since 2013, along with 22 drug-related arrests and 34 arrests for battery, burglary and felony firearms possession.
In the past two weeks, there have been arrests made at the motel of suspects in two separate robberies, he said. Stolen vehicles and guns have been recovered at the property, and Los Angeles police counted 71 used condoms and open wrappers in one room allegedly used for prostitution, Feuer said.
Motel 6 issued the following statement: "Motel 6 is aware of the lawsuit that has been filed against the Motel 6 property located in Sylmar, California. We are in the process of reviewing the lawsuit, but we do not believe it would be appropriate to discuss a pending litigation at this time."
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The managers of the motel were also named in the lawsuit, which seeks injunctions that would require operators to post notices about human trafficking, institute policies against criminal activity and restrict cash payments for room rentals. The lawsuit also seeks an order requiring that a G6 Hospitality executive officer or director be at the Sylmar motel to directly manage operations at least five days a week and to train employees.
"There were conversations ... in May between LAPD and security officials at Motel 6," Feuer said. "We have seen insufficient changes at that motel since that time, to put it mildly."
Feuer recounted in more detail some of allegations stemming from various Los Angeles Police Department investigations and undercover operations at the motel. In one undercover investigation, motel staff "didn't hesitate" to rent a room to an undercover LAPD officer who pretended to be a pimp and pointed at a fellow undercover officer posing as a prostitute while saying, "I want to put this ho to work," according to Feuer.
In another instance, three female undercover officers reclining beside the motel pool were propositioned to work as prostitutes, Feuer alleged. The suspected gang member who solicited them threatened to kill them and their family members if he learned they were law enforcement, according to Feuer.
Feuer said those activities run counter to the motel's marketing of the property as being in proximity to child-friendly attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo and Six Flags Magic Mountain. The motel also sits across from a residential area with a daycare facility, park, senior living center and a "religious institution" in the vicinity, Feuer said.
"Families and other visitors staying at a motel that's part of a respected national chain should never be subjected to dangerous criminal activities in the next room, at the pool or in the parking lot," he said. "And the neighboring residents and businesses at the motel shouldn't have to tolerate these conditions in their community."
