City Attorney Sues to Shut Down Motel

Attorneys with the City of Oakland announced today that they filed a lawsuit earlier this summer against a motel for “allowing and maintaining a public nuisance,” the prosecutors said.

The complaint filed June 30 against Mills Motel, located at 4550 MacArthur Blvd. asks for the court to, among other things, close the business for a year. Prosecutors allege in the complaint that the motel “is used to unlawfully sell, store, keep, or give away controlled substances” and “has a reputation for being used for the purposes of assignation and prostitution.”

Prosecutors also allege that police uncovered an incident of child human trafficking at the motel in April 2013. Three girls were involved and more human trafficking cases may have occurred at the motel.

“There are many law abiding hotel owners in Oakland whose businesses benefit our community,” city attorney Barbara Parker said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we see too many hotels and motels that rely on drugs sales and the sexual exploitation and abuse of girls and women to make a profit.”

The complaint identifies the defendants as Kiran Solanki, Manek Gajjar, Aruna Gajjar and East Bay Lodging LLC, and other defendants prosecutors may uncover during the case. The complaint says Solanki is the business owner and the Gajjar’s are managers of the motel.

Attorney Frank Weiser, who is representing the motel owners, said his clients “vigorously deny the charges.” He said most of the people who stay at the motel are elderly people who live there on a long-term basis, not a nightly basis, and the defendants don’t understand why prosecutors have filed the lawsuit.

“They’re baffled,” he said. Weiser said the defendants will be countersuing the city. He said police exceeded the scope of a warrant and did not serve the warrant properly. He added that usually city officials give a warning in such cases, which they didn’t do before filing the lawsuit. But spokesman for the city attorney’s office Alex Katz said that’s not done in every case.

“That’s not a requirement before filing a lawsuit,” he said. Weiser is also representing the Starlite Motel at 10000 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland in a similar case.

By Bay City News

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