Crackdown on Route 30 hotel crime shows quick early results: 6 arrests in one shift

Mike Argento, York Daily Record
·2 min read
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In February, a shooting at the Days Inn, a budget hotel on Route 30 near the Interstate 83 interchange, caught the attention of Northern York County Regional Police Chief Dave Lash.

The hotel, as well as the other budget hotels clustered around the I-83 interchange, was well-known to police. The hotels were frequently the subject of man-hour consuming police calls, and the sites of a variety of illicit activity, from drug dealing to human trafficking to gun sales to crimes of violence.

Something had to be done. The area is a gateway to York, and its reputation for lawlessness did not reflect well on the community. Lash was also concerned that the illicit activity posed a threat to the safety of visitors to town.

Northern Regional's Police Chief Dave Lash talks about the crime and 911 calls associated with budget hotels on Route 30, east of North George Street. Lash has proposed forming a specialized patrol and enforcement unit to combat the problem.
Northern Regional's Police Chief Dave Lash talks about the crime and 911 calls associated with budget hotels on Route 30, east of North George Street. Lash has proposed forming a specialized patrol and enforcement unit to combat the problem.

The statistics

The statistics bore that out. In 2022, his department had responded to 1,343 calls at the budget motels near the Route 30 and I-83 interchange. There are a dozen hotels in the area, but most of the calls originated from just a few; four accounted for 1,100 of those calls. One accounted for 329. (He declined to identify the hotels but said their names “end with a number.”)

Earlier this year, he proposed creating a specialized detail to combat crime at the hotels, and, working with neighboring police departments, increase patrols and enforcement in the Route 30 corridor as it passes through Springettsbury, Manchester and West Manchester townships.

The detail is still in it nascent stages - Lash said it would not be at full staffing and power until the new year - but it is already showing results.

Previously: Crime is a huge problem at Route 30 motels. How Northern Regional plans to crack down

Other crime news: Requiem for a panhandler: 'Petey' was killed execution style. He was a complicated soul

Six arrests in one shift

In a recent report to the Manchester Township supervisors, Lash said two four-hour-long details employing five officers - a total of 20 man-hours - wrote 20 traffic citations, gave 14 warnings made six arrests responding to five calls at the hotels. One of the people arrested was wanted on an out-of-state warrant for drug dealing. The officers made three drug arrests, arrested another person for illegally possessing a firearm and confiscated a stolen car, the chief reported.

"Six arrests in eight hours time really shows the issue does exist," Lash said. "It's proof that enforcement is needed."

For now, Lash said, the detail is getting a handle on the rhythms of the patrol, determining the best time of day to focus patrols and the scope of the illicit activity.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Crackdown on Route 30 hotel crime in York PA shows quick early results