Sex offenders living at motel raise concern

Orange Park motel at center of controversy over recent crime

ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Orange Park city leaders are petitioning a judge to shut down a local motel that they say is causing problems in the community.

Police found a meth lab inside one of the rooms at the Rodeway Inn this week. Investigators arrested two men in connection with the lab.

Community members said it’s not just drugs bringing down the area, but people staying at the motel who could harm children.

Parents who live near the motel said they've received sex offender alerts on their phones about offenders moving in and out of the motel.

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News4Jax discovered that three sex offenders currently have addresses linked to Rodeway Inn on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's registry.

“If they are letting sex offenders stay here, that is wrong, because there are a lot of kids around here,” motel guest Katrina West said.

West said she checked out of the motel Friday, days after she wanted to -- staying because she couldn’t get a refund. She said she was sleeping when police found what they said was a meth lab on Thursday.

She said hearing that sex offenders stay at the motel is another reason she will never be coming back.

“I just thought it was crazy, because I’m not familiar with that kind of stuff, and I don’t want my kids to be around it, so I wasn’t comfortable,” West said.

The attorney for Orange Park said the town has worked with the motel for a year to fix problems, but when those efforts failed, the Nuisance Abatement Board decided that Rodeway Inn needed to be shut down. Now, the town is petitioning a judge to make it happen.

But the inn is fighting back, saying the town is overstepping its boundaries.

Nearby residents said sex offenders at the motel is a concern because there is an elementary school down the street.

“I do not walk on that side of the road when I have children with me,” said one local resident, who asked not to be identified. “I think it’s not a very good environment for families, either with children or without children, and I would like to see it torn down and maybe have a family recreation place for families with children.”

The owner of the motel did not return requests for comment.

Orange Park’s attorney said the town’s board will receive an update on the status of the motel on March 21. He said the hearing on the town’s motion to dismiss Rodeway Inn’s petition is on March 16.