Scott County, Tenn. — A Scott County judge ordered the shut down of a hotel investigators say was the source of hundreds of complaints within less than a year's time.
Police evacuated the Oneida Family Motel on Wednesday, removing several dozen people from the property. Oneida Plice Chief Darryl Laxton said Thursday he believes a few children were living with their families there. Laxton also said he believes a majority of the people at the motel were not local, and had been living there for longer periods of time.
District Attorney General Jared Effler filed a petition with Scott County Court on Tuesday.
According to the court documents, the Oneida Police Department and the Scott County Sheriff's Office reported receiving more than 250 calls involving the motel in less than a year's time.
The documents list several drug, domestic and sexual assault investigations involving the motel, including a child sexual assault allegation. The documents also notes a large pile of mattresses behind the hotel. The document states this is a violation of municipal code, a health and fire risk and calls it, "unsightly."
"In short, the Oneida Family Hotel is a business that thrives on allowing and encouraging drug activity and facilitates the illegal distribution of narcotics in Scott County," Effler said in the documents. "Furthermore, the Oneida Family Hotel fosters an environment of fighting, disturbance of the peace, lewd sexual activity and public drunkenness."
Local leaders say they spent hours at the motel helping connect the evicted to family or resources for a place to stay, such as the women's shelter or Pinnacle, a resource center in Scott County. Pinnacle also serves as a homeless shelter, which directors say is the only one for several surrounding counties.
Pinnacle Director Ray Perry told 10News the center was on site to provide emergency shelter, food, transportation options and other resources. Perry said the center helped more than 15 people, and 5 stayed overnight at the shelter.
One evicted individual did not want to go on camera, but told 10News he had plans to live there for a week, and not all tenants engaged in the behavior the petition described.
For decades, the motel was Tobe's Motel, a popular family-owned establishment. The family sold it years ago. It's not clear how long the motel has belonged to its current owner, whom the petition lists as Chris Yousif.
10News reached out to Yousif online and through phone but did not hear from him.