Judge Closes Hotel, Evicts Tenants in Drug Case

A Los Angeles judge ordered the closure of a Skid Row hotel for 30 days and the eviction of its tenants to curb drug trafficking there that authorities said netted dealers between $6,000 and $10,000 a day.

The preliminary injunction issued against the owner of the Travelers Hotel by Superior Court Judge Miriam Vogel was hailed by City Atty. James Hahn, who held a news conference in front of the two-story building at South Ceres Avenue to dramatize his office’s campaign against drugs.

Hahn called the hotel a “major cesspool” of drug dealing in the city.

At the same time, Hahn announced the filing of a stipulated court order that forces the owners of four apartment buildings in the San Fernando Valley to make changes to eradicate drug problems there.

The owners, Paul Calvo and his wife, Peggy, were ordered, among other things, to hire security guards, remove all graffiti and require prospective tenants to provide a five-year history of residency and employment.

The four buildings, located in the 14600 block of Blythe Street in Panorama City, have been a supermarket for people seeking rock cocaine, heroin and marijuana, police said.

The judge issued the order against the Travelers Hotel on Hahn’s application of California’s narcotics abatement law to force the closure of places involved in drugs. The ruling was made on the inability of the building’s new owner to comply with a previous court order against the hotel, authorities said.

The new owner, Vincent Cobos, who bought the building last Nov. 10 for an estimated $350,000, agreed to the closure, evictions and changes in the hotel’s management sought by Hahn’s office, said Cobos’ lawyer, Joanna Rehm.

The changes sought include the installation of lighting around the building, locks on all the doors and the absolute prohibition of any illicit drug activity on the premises. Signs must be posted to declare the hotel off limits to drugs and dealers. Failure to comply, Hahn said, would bring further city action against Cobos.

Rehm accused Hahn of “political grandstanding” for holding the news conference after Cobos agreed to make the changes required in the judge’s order.

But authorities familiar with the hotel’s past say Hahn was right in publicizing the action against it.

Los Angeles Police Officer Bryce Spafford said practically all of the hotel’s tenants are involved in drug dealing. “It’s gotten to the point that while we’re making an arrest upstairs, they’re selling drugs out front,” he said.

Hahn said 20 drug-related arrests have taken place in the hotel since August.

City officials said those evicted from the hotel, who are not involved in the drug dealing, will be relocated with the help of a Skid Row social agency, Las Familias del Pueblo.

Under the court order, the hotel can be reopened Feb. 22.