EAU CLAIRE (WQOW) – It’s been more than a year since the city of Eau Claire filed a lawsuit to close down a local hotel due to high volume of illegal activity.
In Friday’s You Ask, We Answer, Pamela is wondering, ‘Why is the Regency Hotel still open?’
In December 2020, the city attorney’s office filed a lawsuit against the Regency Inn and Suites and its owner, Hitesh Patel.
Deputy city attorney Douglas Hoffer said until the litigation is over, the owner is still allowed to own and operate the hotel.
Hoffer said Patel asked to delay parts of the litigation so that he could sell the property to help solve the serious criminal activity there including illicit drug distribution and human trafficking.
“An offer to purchase was accepted last year and closing was supposed to take place on a sale at the end of last year. That sale has fallen through,” Hoffer said.
However, Hoffer said three potential sales are currently in the works.
Eau Claire police said they’ve responded to 67 calls to the Regency since the beginning of 2022, and they’ve made 18 arrests there so far this year. There were 27 arrests last year.
Just this past Tuesday, an Eau Claire officer located a stolen vehicle out of Minnesota in the hotel’s parking lot, and the suspect would later lead them on a high-speed chase.
In the criminal complaint from that case, prosecutors said patrol officers know the hotel as a place of “frequent and persistent criminal activity.”
“We’re not looking for a short-term band-aid that solves the problems for a few days or weeks or months,” Hoffer said. “We want the problem solved there forever. And so if that takes a little extra time and a little extra work and a little more patience, we’re committed to doing that.”
Hoffer said the last thing they want is for the problems at the Regency to move to other locations so the city has developed work groups with hotels and other stakeholders to collaborate on preventative solutions.
Hoffer said as of now, there’s no concrete deadline or timeline on when the property needs to be sold.
Hoffer also emphasized the city is not focused on obtaining a large monetary judgment or punishing the owner.
He said they’re looking to eliminate the serious criminal activity that takes place there.
If there is a question you want us to answer click here or email us at news@wqow.com
