City shuts down Tacoma motel after 171 calls for drugs, sex and assaults

A Tacoma motel known for prostitution and illegal drug use was ordered closed by the city Friday.

The Morgan Motel at 7031 Pacific Ave. had its business license suspended after a narcotics investigation by Tacoma police.

Paperwork given to the owner said police received 171 calls for service from “concerned citizens” for criminal activity at the motel since January 2016.

“We have responded to numerous calls for service there to include assaults, prostitution and drug complaints,” Tacoma Police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said Saturday.

The motel was the scene of an assault in March when a man — who police said became angry after being denied sex by two women there — drove his truck into the motel and threw a large rock at one woman’s head.

People in eight units were told to vacate Friday, an owner who didn’t want her name used told The News Tribune on Saturday.

“Some of them cried and said, ‘Mama-san, where am I gong to go?’ I cried with them,” she said.

“How are we to judge a good or bad person? We don’t ask a lot of questions,” the owner said. “These are somebody’s children.”

“Hopefully the owners/management will work toward maintaining a clean, thriving motel that attracts legitimate customers if they are able to reopen,” Cool said.

The owner can appeal her business license suspension at a Wednesday hearing.

In November, the city shut down the nearby Calico Cat Motel for the same reasons along with methamphetamine contamination.

This story was originally published May 13, 2017 at 9:22 PM with the headline "City shuts down Tacoma motel after 171 calls for drugs, sex and assaults."