PHOENIX, AZ — After months of violence, two Phoenix motels have shut their doors and fenced off their properties.
Airport Inn and Payless Inn are located off 24th and Van Buren streets. Both are under the same ownership and both have voluntarily closed.
Authorities say 13 people have been shot in this area in the last six months.
Phoenix police say calls for service in and around the motels are high. Officers say they've received dozens of complaints from neighbors citing crime and even more issues coming from those staying in the motels.
The department took action, according to Sgt. Armando Carbajal, and a "crime suppression project" led to more than 60 arrests, almost 50 of them felony related.
“Whenever we have multiple shootings with multiple victims, that’s a great concern for us," said Carbajal. “If it affects the property, or the neighborhood, or the people that do business there, then we try to make sure that we get to the root of the problem."
Police say the motel owners asked for officers to help when residents were told to leave.
When asked if these closures could curb the crime trend in the area, Carbajal said both properties "definitely contributed, in one way or another, to the crime in the area" but only time will tell.
