Cumberland sheriff hopes Coliseum Inn shutdown sends message to nearby troublesome motels
The Coliseum Inn in Fayetteville has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent years, becoming a hotspot for drugs, prostitution and murders. That led to Monday's abatement and injunction order.
Cumberland County Sheriff Ennis Wright said there are other motels along the Gillespie Street corridor that may suffer the same fate.
There are signs at the motel warning people to stay away. The sheriff said the last thing he wants to do is shut down a business.
But when crimes that are allegedly happening at the business spill into neighboring communities, the sheriff says he has to put public safety first.
WRAL News went on a ride along with Wright and his chief deputy in June of 2022. That gives you an idea as how much effort goes into collecting enough evidence to get to the point of ordering a shutdown.
We rode around the Coliseum Inn and saw a number of examples of what the sheriff considered questionable actives.
During the course of the investigation leading to the shutdown, there have been 20 homicides, 28 overdoses, and about a dozen cases of human trafficking. All of them were investigations at the Coliseum Inn.
"There are a lot of elders on this street that's always dealing with the prostitution, trafficking, unwanted cars coming up and down," said one resident. "With the coliseum closing down, it does shut down a lot of it. Now we need to work on the other ones."
Residents like Samantha Wynn say she just wants folks who live on her block to feel safe.
"I think it's a good thing," said Wynn. "Hopefully it doesn't deter them to other parts of this area is my thought process on it. But I do think it's a start in the right direction."
The sheriff hopes shutting this motel down sends a message to other motel operators in the area with similar issues.
"We're not in the business of shutting down businesses," Wright said. "Everybody has a right to earn a living. But now the people that live around those businesses have a right to live in peace and not in fear. "
The sheriff says there are at least three other motels along the Gillespie Street corridor that his deputies have their eyes on. But he also said the owners of those motels are reaching out to his office to figure out ways to fight criminals who are checking in and causing problems.
It's a tough battle, but it's one that the residents who live in nearby communities are glad to see the sheriff is fighting.
