Residents File Petition, Blame Hotels for Crime

Saying they are tired of drug dealing and prostitution in their neighborhood, 242 residents and business owners signed a petition demanding that the City Council take action against the Coral Isle Hotel and Apartments and the Clarendon Hotel.

Otho Branch, 74, submitted the petition to the City Council last week. He owns three bungalows and a duplex surrounded by the Coral Isle complex.

The petition states that “open and blatant prostitution and drug dealing, robbery, assault, burglary, disorderly conduct and an increase of gang activity” are occurring at the hotels.

Willie Thomas, manager of the Coral Isle buildings, said they once housed rough, noisy residents, but he had cleaned them out after becoming manager more than two months ago.

“There used to be younger guys hanging around and with (Branch) being an older gentleman, he didn’t like the noise,” Thomas said. “There is no prostitution in the building,” he added.

The Clarendon’s owner, who identified herself as B. Desai, denied allegations in the petition. “We’ve had no trouble here,” she said.

Branch, owner of the rentals in the 6100 block of Santa Fe Avenue for 22 years, said he started the petition because, “somebody’s got to take hold here to save the city. This area’s deteriorating. I’ve lived in hell for two years, and I am at the end.” Branch lives in one of the apartments he owns, but said his wife moved to West Covina because she was afraid of the Huntington Park neighborhood.

City Councilman William P. Cunningham said police officers are investigating the complaints listed on the petition.

“There is nothing the city can do to shut down the hotel unless there are violations,” Cunningham said. “There have been increased police patrols in the area, at least in the last week.”

Patrick M. Connolly, chief of the Huntington Park Police Department, said the residents’ concerns are legitimate. “When you get a petition like this, and you don’t get a lot, it means that the problem is obvious and flagrant and the citizens are disturbed.”

Connolly said there have been numerous arrests for prostitution and narcotics in the immediate areas around the hotels including an arrest on Saturday in the alley behind the Coral Isle Hotel. “It would be a fool who would not see that the problems are directly attributed to the hotels,” he said.

Connolly said the increased police protection is a short-term solution. He is recommending that the city create a civil abatement program that would require property owners themselves to take steps to eliminate gambling, drug dealing, prostitution and any general nuisances. He said the proposal was submitted this week to the city administrator.

“This forces property owners to take responsibility for their property and criminal actions on their property,” Connolly said.

Connolly said the abatement district would also include the nearby Toles Motel and Lido Hotel. “Past investigations have shown that there were narcotics sales and use in the hotels,” he said.

Vallabhbhai Desai, manager of the Toles Motel adjacent to the Coral Isle, said, “I am a very strict manager. The hotel next door has problems. I only had one incident here three months ago when a bank robber was staying here and I helped police catch him.”

Lido officials were not available for comment.

Thomas, the Coral Isle manager, said he rents the 95-unit complex to families and to people he wants to help. He said four of his children and four grandchildren live in the complex.

He admitted that police are occasionally called to the hotel, but generally respond to “the usual family fights. This is an all-family area. I’d keep the complex half empty rather than rent to just anyone off the street,” Thomas said.

One neighborhood resident who signed the petition, Raymond Parrish, said, “I hope (the police) get the hookers and the dope out of there. I feel sorry for the children living there. That is no place to raise a family.”