A lawsuit filed on behalf of a former Budgetel Inn guest claims East Ridge and Hamilton County governments, East Ridge police, and a dozen business owners and businesses violated people's constitutional rights in last month's motel closure.
"The individual defendants acted with malice and deliberate indifference to plaintiff's constitutional rights," said the 32-page lawsuit filed in Chattanooga on Monday with the U.S. District Court's Eastern District of Tennessee by attorney Robin Flores on behalf of client Charles Burkhalter.
The extended stay motel was closed Nov. 16 based on law enforcement concerns about crime, displacing hundreds of people who were staying there.
The lawsuit alleges Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violations, as well as a civil conspiracy, accusing the defendants of taking "concerted action to accomplish an unlawful purpose by unlawful means -- conversion of property."
"Defendants, acting in concert with each other, reached an agreement among themselves to deprive plaintiff of his rights to notice and to be secure in his property," the lawsuit said.
Named as defendants are the city of East Ridge, East Ridge Assistant Police Chief Josh Creel, several law enforcement officers and the Hamilton County government.
The city of East Ridge and Creel declined to comment, citing pending litigation. The county and the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office also declined to comment.
The lawsuit also names the nine owners or employees of nearby businesses who signed affidavits alleging they witnessed Budgetel residents engaging in suspicious and sometimes illegal activities such as panhandling, damaging property, theft, and defecating and urinating on the grass near some of the business.
Beth Hickman, owner of Sugar Plum's Antiques, added two photographs of litter and a knife to her affidavit, which was signed Nov. 10, and said she "witnessed residents of the Budgetel openly urinating and defecating in the grass beside my store."
Hickman declined to comment for this story.
The other affidavits -- which do not offer proof that the people engaging in such activity were staying at the Budgetel -- stated that the business owners often saw them walking to or from the area of the motel. Several of the business owners claim in the affidavits that proximity to the Budgetel makes them fear for their safety, as well as the safety of their employees and customers.
"I have witnessed, on multiple occasions, people running through the parking lot and trying to open car doors; those people always seem to end up heading to the Budgetel when they leave our parking lot," Robin Nave-Montero, owner of The Robin's Nest antique store, said in an affidavit signed Oct. 27.
Nave-Montero did not respond to phone or email inquiries from the Times Free Press.
Aaron Murray, a general manager with Champy's World Famous Fried Chicken, claimed he had repeatedly asked a few of the Budgetel residents to leave the restaurant on multiple occasions, after he witnessed them panhandling and overall disturbing customers.
"Three individuals from the Budgetel walk through Champy's with a pitbull wearing a service dog vest. The individuals approached over 20 separate tables asking the patrons to pet the dog. The three individuals were not customer's of Champy's and did not purchase anything, so we asked them to leave the premises," Murray said in the affidavit signed Nov. 11.
The Times Free Press reached out to Champy's for further comment and details of incidents allegedly involving Budgetel residents, but they declined to comment.
"We stand behind our affidavit and have no further comment," owner Seth Champion said in an email Wednesday.
Flores is seeking unspecified compensation and punitive damages for his client.
The lawsuit also alleges a pattern by the city of East Ridge, saying it is not the first time the city padlocked the facility.
Then-East Ridge City attorney John Anderson filed an action in 2010 to close the motel, then known as Superior Creek Lodge. The motel was allowed to stay open after Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern set conditions "designed to protect the public but also allowed children, military veterans, and mentally and physically impairied and disabled persons to still reside in their homes" amid litigation, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims "the defendants in this matter did not learn a lesson."
Last month, at the request of District Attorney Coty Wamp, County Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson declared the Budgetel a public nuisance and shut it down. Wamp cited high levels of crime and an outsized number of calls to the county's emergency agencies. Residents, including children and disabled people, were given four hours' notice to vacate the property, and many left possessions behind.
Patterson on Monday ordered residents be allowed access to the motel to collect their belongings. He also granted access to the motel's owners to begin repairing the facility and addressing East Ridge city code violations.
Attorney Charles Wright on Nov. 20 filed a motion on behalf of more than 70 of the former residents with the Hamilton County Criminal Court, saying the shutdown violated his clients' constitutional rights.
Similarly, former Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston also filed a motion Nov. 30 for his two clients, questioning the constitutionality of the closure.
Flores claims the East Ridge police, Hamilton County government and the other defendants violated constitutional rights by forcing residents out of the Budgetel without their property.
"The individual defendants committed overt acts and were otherwise willful participants in joint activity but not limited to the deprivation of the plaintiff's rights to be free from unreasonable seizure of his personal property," the lawsuit stated.
Flores also noted "the impact of the sudden removal of the plaintiff and the residents have exhausted the little resources available by organizations who help those suffering calamities such as what is seen here," according to the lawsuit.
Funds to be able to re-home those displaced by the eviction is running out, with the Homeless Coalition forecasting funds running out by Wednesday.
Contact Shelby Farmer at sfarmer@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6366.
Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter @LaShawnPagan.