UPDATE: Families Stage Weekend Protest at Urbandale Motel Frequently Visited by Police

Family members of two men who died of drug overdoses at an Urbandale motel gathered to protest Saturday at the site, according to WHO-TV.com.

Police were summoned to Urbandale's more than 1,000 times in the past three years, according to dispatcher records.

The inexpensive extended-stay hotel at 7625 Hickman Road also was the site of the separate drug-related deaths of two young men last year, Michael Mehalovich and Chad Nauman, authorities said.

On Saturday, Lisa Nauman left a bare cross at the motel where her brother, Chad, died in August. She wants people to remember the horrible way he spent his last hours.

“Chad came here with a friend of his and he (lay) on the ground for 12 hours unresponsive while no one got help,” she told WHO-TV.

Tammy Rude has a similar story. Her son, Michael, took so many pills he died in his sleep at Motel Relax.

After Saturday's protest she posted this comment on an Urbandale Patch story from last week about authorities growing concerns about the business.

"I am Michael Mehalovich's mother," she wrote on Patch. "My son died at Motel Relax on Dec. 16, 2011. I feel like I was robbed (of) my son. I was present with Lisa Nauman at the Motel Relax protest last night. I seek justice and answers!"

Our Earlier Story:

Correction:  Police Chief Ross McCarty on Jan. 31 corrected the figures on the number of trips to the Motel Relax. Those numbers reflect the number of officers sent to the motel. The actual number of call for police is half that, or 575.

How Many Times Do Police Visit This Urbandale Motel a Year?

Police were summoned to Urbandale's more than 1,000 times in the past three years, according to dispatcher records.

The inexpensive extended-stay hotel at 7625 Hickman Road also was the site of the separate drug-related deaths of two young men last year, Michael Mehalovich and Chad Nauman, authorities said.

And after Nauman's sister spoke to the Urbandale City Council Monday night, Police Chief Ross McCarty said the council made it clear "they have concerns with this property and they want it changed."

How should the city handle the lingering issue of drugs and other police calls at the Motel Relax? Tell us below in comments.

McCarty said the motel was on the department's radar — "it's been a problem property ever since I was a young officer" — but authorities began pulling all the police records associated with the property for the past three years after Des Moines Register investigative reporter Lee Rood began looking into it. 

The history of crime and police calls in the past year would astound most Urbandale residents: 

• 350 police calls in 2011
• 450 police calls in 2010
• 328 police calls in 2009
• 3 attempted suicides in 2009
• 1 murder in 2010
• 2 death investigations in 2011
• 26 ambulance calls in 2009
• 10 ambulance calls in 2010
• 25 ambulance calls in 2011

Of the 350 police calls in 2011, some were people reporting barking dogs, illegal parking, or calling for help in unlocking a vehicle.

But two were reporting an armed person, five were reporting robberies, two calls were for shots fired, four were burglary reports, 52 were reporting domestic disputes, 28 were reporting fights, and 11 calls were for drug violations.

And more than 20 times, someone called 911 from the motel, but hung up before a dispatcher got on the line.

Property Manager Says Scope of Problems News to Her

A group of investors bought the motel in 2007, said McCarty and "we were hoping that perhaps that change in management would bring a change in the trip load. But after looking these things over, it looks like things have digressed instead of getting better."

He said police plan to meet with the property manager, Jill Mollison, on Tuesday to work on ways to reduce crime at the motel.

"We're going to hold her accountable," he said. "I think we have to start this cooperative effort immediately."

Mollison, who said she is the property manager and one of the owners, told Patch "the number of police calls to the property was just brought to my attention."

She said that she contacted police after the two death investigations were in the news recently. She said the owners have hired a security company to patrol the property at night as a result.

"We bought the motel in 2007 and spent a lot of money and a lot of time remodeling it. We have too much invested in it to let it go downhill," she said.

The investors converted it from a motel to a 61-unit extended-stay motel by putting kitchenettes in the rooms, according to the YouTube video with this article.

Seeking a Solution to Problem Guests

Mollison said part of the problem is that the legal rules for putting out a problem guest is different from those for rental properties.

"You can evict a problem tenant, but we're a hotel. We have guests and we can't evict them. It's a little bit trickier process."

McCarty said there are some legal issues, but "I feel pretty comfortable that we can exercise the same amount of controls."

He said the city could declare the property a nuisance because of drug activity and shut it down, but McCarty said he considers that a last resort.

Lt. Rob Johansen said: "We don't want the motel to go away, we just want the problem people to go away. The clientele you don't want learns very quickly," he said.

"We're going to take a community policing approach," said McCarty. "We're going to bring (Mollison) in and make her the primary stakeholder. … As long as the property manager is cooperating, we'll allow this to run out. If they don't change the property, they're going to lose the property."