The Motel 6 in White Settlement, Texas — the Extended Stay location near Interstate 30 and Cherry Lane, just west of Fort Worth — has been identified by local police as one of the most crime-plagued lodging properties in the city, and it sits on a stretch of budget motels that has been under a dedicated police task force since March 2023.
What Police Have Documented at the Property
White Settlement Police Chief Christopher Cook has singled out the Motel 6 Extended Stay as generating a “significant number” of the calls for service coming out of the city’s motel corridor.1NBC DFW. White Settlement Police Create Task Force on Motel, Hotel Crime He has also named it as one of three hotels on Cherry Lane posing the “biggest problem,” along with the Studio 6 and the Red Roof Inn.2Fort Worth Star-Telegram. White Settlement Police Crackdown on Hotels
Cook has described one incident at the Motel 6 in which officers tried to intercept a drug deal. The suspect fled, touching off a 100-mph chase down the interstate that ended when the driver blew through a red light.2Fort Worth Star-Telegram. White Settlement Police Crackdown on Hotels
The Broader Motel Corridor
The Motel 6 is one of eight motel and hotel properties along the I-30 and Loop 820 South service road in White Settlement, a city of roughly 20,000 people. Between January 2021 and early 2023, White Settlement police logged 2,860 calls for service at those eight properties combined.1NBC DFW. White Settlement Police Create Task Force on Motel, Hotel Crime The calls covered assaults, rapes, burglaries, prostitution, stabbings, shootings, robberies, stolen vehicles, drug activity, overdoses, and deaths.3Fort Worth Star-Telegram. White Settlement Police Target Hotel and Motel Crime
The nearby Red Roof Inn recorded the highest call volume of the eight and has been the site of multiple overdoses, including at least one confirmed fentanyl death.2Fort Worth Star-Telegram. White Settlement Police Crackdown on Hotels Cook put it plainly: “It is quite evident based upon the numerical data that our community is at risk with some of these properties.”3Fort Worth Star-Telegram. White Settlement Police Target Hotel and Motel Crime
What the City Is Doing
In March 2023 the police department stood up a multi-agency task force aimed at the corridor. It combined patrol officers with code enforcement and the Office of the Fire Marshal, and it added high-visibility patrols at the targeted motels without pulling officers off standard beats.1NBC DFW. White Settlement Police Create Task Force on Motel, Hotel Crime
Police then delivered formal letters to owners and operators listing specific steps they were expected to take:
- Obtain identification from every person renting a room.
- Record license plate information for all vehicles on the premises.
- Promptly notify police of suspicious activity.
Officers working the task force also found that some properties had been renting rooms by the hour, a practice that violates White Settlement city codes and that police said facilitates drug dealing, prostitution, credit card fraud, and the sale of stolen goods and firearms. Arrests were made in connection with those violations.2Fort Worth Star-Telegram. White Settlement Police Crackdown on Hotels
Cook set a concrete target: cutting police calls at the properties roughly in half, from around 3,000 to about 1,500.1NBC DFW. White Settlement Police Create Task Force on Motel, Hotel Crime He warned owners the city would sue if cooperation didn’t follow: “We will file lawsuits against properties that do not comply with the law under nuisance and abatement.”4Audacy KRLD. White Settlement Police Creates Nuisance Hotel Task Force The city attorney’s office was prepared to pursue civil actions against non-compliant properties.3Fort Worth Star-Telegram. White Settlement Police Target Hotel and Motel Crime
How Motel 6 Management Has Responded
Danny Patel, the manager of the White Settlement Motel 6, told reporters his staff was “working to alleviate the factors bringing law enforcement to the hotel.” Patel said he did not know who was responsible for the high volume of calls and estimated that police typically visited the property about once a week.2Fort Worth Star-Telegram. White Settlement Police Crackdown on Hotels
As of April 2023, police said some motels along the corridor remained uncooperative, declining to share surveillance footage or follow city ordinances.4Audacy KRLD. White Settlement Police Creates Nuisance Hotel Task Force
What a Nuisance Lawsuit Would Mean
The legal tool White Settlement has threatened is Chapter 125 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Under that statute, a property qualifies as a “common nuisance” if the owner knowingly maintains a place where people habitually go to engage in certain criminal activities and fails to make reasonable efforts to stop it.5Texas Attorney General. Nuisance Abatement A court that agrees can order the property closed for up to a year. Courts can also issue injunctions requiring owners to install surveillance cameras, hire uniformed security, restrict hours, or ban hourly rentals.6TDCAA. The Power of Civil Enforcement Often the threat alone is enough, and owners enter voluntary abatement agreements to avoid litigation.
The Motel 6 and the other corridor properties remain open and remain subject to the task force. Police have said the effort will continue until call volumes at the targeted locations are meaningfully reduced.