The Delaware Department of Justice has asked a court to declare a Wilmington-area motel a criminal nuisance, with the goal of requiring owners to reduce the occurrence of crime on the property.
The complaint, filed May 10 in Superior Court, charges the Fairview Inn on South Market Street and its owner, NAB Motel, Inc., with 5 counts of maintaining a nuisance. An adjacent property – the now-defunct “Gold Club” – was closed in March 2016 as a result of a nuisance abatement action filed by DOJ in November 2015.
The complaint states that property values in nearby communities have fallen amid frequent calls to law enforcement, arrests, search warrant executions, and other police activity in or around Fairview. Since January 4, 2017, the motel has drawn 434 calls for service and been the site of dozens of criminal activities ranging from drug activity to prostitution, robbery, and assault. During that period, police responded to at least 7 overdoses at Fairview, including at least one case where the overdose victim also purchased their drugs on the property.
The State’s complaint requests that the Court declare the property a criminal nuisance, grant temporary and permanent nuisance abatement relief, and issue civil penalties pursuant to Delaware law, in addition to other remedies that the Court deems to be fair and just.
