Sandra Mishler was frustrated Tuesday morning.
Mishler, the office manager at the Motel 6 on Highway 45, said it aggravated her to see another incident at the motel, the morning after two men were arrested for reportedly robbing a guest. The arrests come seven months after a reported armed robbery in December at the motel.
To Mishler, the incidents were repeated blows to the motel’s image — all less than a year after the completion of a $3 million renovation that brought in new beds, improved bathrooms, laminated floors and other improvements to the motel’s 57 rooms.
“What’s the use of having a good motel if you’re going to have a few drug dealers that are going to come up here and ruin it for you?” she said. “Needless to say, I’m very upset.”
Columbus Police Department arrested local residents John Davis Williams Jr, 20, and Arsenio Martez Reynolds, 26, on Tuesday on suspicion of robbery.
According to city public information officer Joe Dillon, two men approached a victim, who was standing outside a motel room, and asked for a ride. The victim refused, and one of the men broke into the room and stole some money while the other stood watch at the door. Both suspects fled after that.
Dillon told The Dispatch Tuesday afternoon that Williams’ bond was set at $10,000 and Reynolds’ at $50,000.
In December, one male and female suspect reportedly robbed a couple staying in the motel at gunpoint.
Mishler said she believes both incidents were drug-related.
While Mishler wasn’t on duty when this week’s incident happened, she said her desk clerk who worked overnight said the victim, a male, was standing outside his room smoking a cigarette. She said his door was open behind him, with his wife in the room and a wallet sitting out on the bed.
She said the men approached him, went into the room, took the money and left. She said the male followed them in his car, and his wife went to the front lobby and asked motel staff to call 911.
Assistant Police Chief Fred Shelton declined to comment on the incident’s details Tuesday afternoon, citing an ongoing investigation.
Motel 6 is ‘calm’
Despite the two incidents, Mishler said the mood at Motel 6 is calm. She said the motel doesn’t have any long-term inhabitants, other than a worker who lives there, but does have many repeat customers from within a roughly 50-mile radius.
However, she said a few bad people shouldn’t spoil the motel’s image.
“People have been coming forever,” she said. “They know that it’s not a bad motel. But you have these few that — when I know it’s anything to do with drugs, I kick them out and they’re on our ‘do not rent’ list. We never let them come back.
“When I work (nights), I walk this parking lot all hours of the night,” Mishler later added. “There is not anybody out here who is scared to walk this parking lot any hour of the night. I can tell you that.”
Shelton said two incidents at Motel 6 are unusual, but not to the point of needing to panic. He said CPD will beef up patrols in the area, however.
Mishler also expressed frustration at perceived unfairness in reporting of crimes that happen at the Motel 6. She said she has a police scanner, and hears other things that happen throughout the city.
She said the other motels in town have problems as well, but they don’t get the same treatment.
Shelton, however, said CPD does not target the Motel 6 over any other motel, when it comes to releasing information to media. He also said other motels and hotels haven’t shown a recent pattern of problems.
“Nobody is targeting the [Motel 6]. Crime happens where opportunity allows itself,” Shelton said.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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