‘Public nuisance’: City Council revokes license of downtown Las Vegas motel

Child sex trafficking, a victim who was shot, a rash of overdoses, and an arson at a downtown Las Vegas motel contributed to a sharp increase of crime that led to the property’s emergency closure, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Metro officials said Wednesday that they tried to remediate the concerns at the property in the weeks before ordering US Motel, at 2500 E. Fremont St. near East Charleston Boulevard, to shutter in September.

Police told the Las Vegas City Council that the ownership took little to no action.

Representatives of the motel countered at the meeting that there were now plans to address the problems: a staff overhaul, training, property fixes and private security.

Indicating that the planned proposals did not suffice, the council voted 7-0 to revoke the motel’s business license, affirming that it would remain vacant and inoperable for the time being.

Should A2 Management LLC and the company’s agents want to again operate the property, they will have to wait at least one more year, the City Council stipulated. Any future operator will have to comply with about a dozen new stringent conditions over the next five years.

“Who in their right mind would be proud that there is minor prostitution happening in their motel; that there’s narcotics being sold, that their property is being lit on fire,” said Councilwoman Olivia Diaz, who represents the ward where the motel sits.

She added: “Forget about you as a motel, what about the rest of us (who) have to deal with the aftermath?”

Uptick of crime

Metro Capt. Adam Seely said that the alleged crimes linked to the property were so numerous that Sheriff Kevin McMahill ordered Metro to assign a dedicated unit to patrol the motel 24/7, a rare occurrence.

“I wasn’t sure what we were going to do,” Seely said. “Most of our traditional crime-fighting methods just simply weren’t working.”

Before the council’s unanimous vote, Seely and a Metro lieutenant presented a statistical report underlining the crimes.

Metro received 77 calls for service at the motel from Jan. 1 to mid-September, a 147 percent year-to-date increase, the officials said.

Proactive police calls pushed that figure up to 350, compared with eight total during the same time period in 2024, he said.

“This is not a game and it’s not funny,” Councilwoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong said. “And for this business to know all this time what was going on on its property, and doing absolutely zero to address the issue, is maddening to me.”

In comparison, the presentation noted that Metro responded to two neighboring motels four and 26 times, respectively, this year.

Police: Sex trafficking of children

Police connected three children they said were victimized by adult sex traffickers operating out of the motel, according to the presentation.

One of the victims was rescued in January and a 42-year-old man was arrested at the property, police said. A 19-year-old man at the motel was arrested two months later after police rescued two minors.

On July 30, Metro responded to a shooting at a US Motel room, where they found a man who had been shot in the face, according to the presentation.

City firefighters responded to nine overdoses at the motel from January to June this year, police said.

Police conducted other drug busts at the property this summer and arrested two hotel managers and a maintenance worker in a prostitution-related undercover stint.

Metro alleged that the managers rented a room for a short amount of time to an undercover officer who told them she was a sex worker. The third worker provided supplies, such as condoms, and said he could help them use a room outside of surveillance footage, according to the presentation.

‘A public nuisance for over two years’

Speaking on behalf of Patel, attorney Michael Beede told the City Council that the men were not convicted, but that nevertheless, they had been fired.

“There’s no question that the crimes that are alleged at this property are abhorrent,” he said. “There is no universe where (the crimes) should continue.”

Seely said Metro recommended solutions to Arpit Patel, managing member of A2 Management, during three meetings over a period of weeks this summer.

“We made it very clear in that meeting as well that there was in fact sex trafficking of children occurring on that property,” Seely said.

Seely said the first discussion was promising, but that no changes were implemented.

“They just never ended up making any of the changes or recommendations that we had for them,” he said.

Recommendations included logging guest information, asking for identification, providing around-the-clock security and making lighting improvements, officials said.

Retired Metro Sgt. Victor Vigna said he had been consulting the motel on how to make improvements. He described himself as a 25-year police veteran with supervisor experience with the vice unit.

The motel would hire all-new staff, provide sex-trafficking prevention training, install new surveillance technology and contract with a private security firm, Vigna said.

Councilwoman Francis Allen-Palenske asked the consultant when he was hired.

“This has been a public nuisance for over two years,” she said. “Horrible crimes have taken place here and you were retained three weeks ago to help remediate the problem?”

Seely said the motel had contributed to a “significant uptick of violent crime” in the area.

“It’s super unfair that then the neighbors surrounding that motel have to suffer because forever the management and the ownership didn’t care to care about anybody else,” Diaz said, “and not even care about (their) property.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.