Hanover Econo Lodge getting lots of police attention

HANOVER – Half a mile west on Route 10 from the Hanover Township Police Department sits a motel that’s become a regular stop for police in an otherwise peaceful town.

The Econo Lodge has been the site of several reports of criminal activity over the past few months, including drug use, prostitution, a shooting, lewdness and even stealing a puppy and selling it on Craigslist.

“It keeps us busy, that’s for sure,” Hanover Police Chief Stephen Gallagher said. “This is different for our town. We don’t usually have this level of problems for our town. The shooting put a big spotlight on the place. We don’t have shootings here.”

The Econo Lodge received a lot of unwanted attention this February when Daniel Wendt, 24, of Boonton, was charged with shooting a man in the neck during an alleged drug deal outside the hotel.

Gallagher said police have increased patrols around the hotel, added foot patrols through the building, and had some undercover officers at the hotel running surveillance.

“For us it appears to be building, getting worse,” Gallagher said. “We had the shooting. We’ve had prostitution in there. Drugs. Heroin, heroin, heroin, heroin.”

Gallagher confirmed a death at the hotel the last week of July - the same week a meeting was held with the county to address issues at the hotel - but would not comment on the cause of death.

“There were signs of drug activity taking place, but I cannot determine the cause because people were in and out of the room,” Gallagher said. “There had been drug activity but had it been that person’s or someone else’s in the room we don’t know.”

Gallagher directed questions about the death to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office. Deputy Chief Denise Arseneault declined to release any information, citing an ongoing investigation.

Gallagher said there is no other location in Hanover with this type of activity. Police Capt. Shawn Waldron said the rise in criminal activity started about 18 months to two years ago.

“People that are living there are forced to because there are no other options,” Waldron said. “They go where it’s cheap.”

The Econo Lodge has 76 rooms and the America’s Best Value, which is located on the same property and run by the same management, has 38 rooms.

The hotel is one of about half a dozen in the county used by the Office of Temporary Assistance at the County Division of Human Services.

“People that stay there aren’t travelers,” Gallagher said. “They’re people that live in New Jersey and use it as an address.”

Gallagher said he did not know what percentage of people in the hotel involved in the reported crimes are on temporary housing.

“But it’s not just the people using the temporary housing. Those people have issues. And they have friends with issues,” Gallagher said. “So they’re there and then their friends show up and then we have a lot of people in that particular spot which to me doesn’t fit Hanover.”

Morris County Administrator John Bonanni said the Office of Temporary Assistance has very limited options when placing individuals or families.

Bonanni said the office has about 50 to 60 clients at a time and about eight places in the county that fall within the price range to house them.

The clients are not sorted in each hotel evenly, but rater in a “professional, methodical way” to fit their individual needs, Bonanni said.

“It’s a complex issue. There’s no magic fix. You do your best to be sensitive to everyone’s needs,” Bonanni said. “We try to minimize transportation, there are employment factors. And if there are kids we want to keep them as close to their school as possible. Children are critical to the placement.”

As of Friday, Bonanni said there were three or four people living in the Whippany Econo Lodge through temporary housing. There may be others at the hotel receiving county benefits but not direct temporary housing, so the county isn’t keeping track of them.

Still, Bonanni said it would be wrong to assume all offenders at the hotel are receiving some sort of help from the county.

“Some are from the county,” Bonanni said. “But some clearly are not.”

Hanover Mayor Ron Francioli confirmed the township held a “productive” meeting last week with Bonanni and county Human Services to address issues with the Econo Lodge.

Francioli was joined by Administrator Joe Giorgio, Public Safety Director George Copolla, health officer Kim Zagorski, and Waldron at the meeting.

Together the group reviewed police statistics of crimes at the Econo Lodge.

Waldron said there have been anywhere from three to seven arrests per month this year at the hotel; 27 in the first half of the year including seven in June.

“It was agreed that of the 25 welfare cases lodged there, half would be moved out,” Francioli said. “We also agreed to inform Family Services of any police actions, and that party would be immediately removed.”

Francioli said the township also sent letters to the landowner and hotel brand demanding they pay for 24/7 security at the location.

“Hanover refuses to baby sit those individuals that abuse the welfare housing benefit at Econo Lodge by providing daily policing at Hanover tax payers expense,” Francioli said. “We are hopeful that this will be a good first step to alleviating months of crime problems at the location.”

Waldron said police were also advised at the meeting to try and determine if people who are arrested at the hotel are there under temporary housing, which they can do by relaying the name to someone in the county who keeps a record of the clients.

“The county has asked us to do our best upon arrest, as of last week, that if we can determine that they’re receiving county aid that we notify them,” Waldron said. “Because they have counselors that would then step in.”

If someone is arrested that is receiving county aid, they would then be moved to a different location once they are released.

“But until they take the funding away the problem just gets relocated to someone else,” Waldron said.

Francioli said the group plans to meet again shortly to review the results of these actions.

A manager at the Econo Lodge declined to comment, referring inquiries to the police.

Gallagher said management at the hotel has been very cooperative with authorities.

“Even the night of the shooting they could not have been more hospitable,” Gallagher said.

A spokesperson for Choice Hotels, which owns the Econo Lodge chain, said July 24 that the Whippany hotel was no longer associated with them.

“They are no longer a franchise within the brand and cannot use any of our marks or signage,” Choice Hotels spokesperson Sarah Lee said.

As of Friday, the Econo Lodge signage remained outside the hotel.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com

Recent arrests at the Whippany Econo Lodge include:

On July 23 Hanover Police arrested a married couple living at the Econo Lodge, charging the pair – Dwayne Hicks, 48, and Octavia Sallie, 42 – with possession and intent to distribute heroin and possession of marijuana, according to Chief Stephen Gallagher

On July 11, police responded to a report of a woman running around the Econo Lodge parking lot naked and found the woman – Alison Anderson, 45, of Maplewood – hanging out her first floor window at the hotel asking for help, Gallagher said.

Anderson was asked to cover up, which she did with a bed sheet, and was convinced to go to the hospital for her high level of intoxication, Gallagher said.

On the way to the hospital Anderson became combative, attempting to bite and kick an officer, for which she was charged with two counts of aggravated assault of a police officer, resisting arrest, three counts of aggravated assault of an emergency medical technician , disorderly conduct and lewdness, Gallagher said.

On June 23, Tolga Gezer, 21, and Joel Chacon, 22, both of Lake Hiawatha, were arrested at the Econo Lodge after police witnessed the men exit a vehicle in the parking lot that was listed as stolen, Gallagher said.

Gezer and Chacon were stopped before entering the hotel and after obtaining a search warrant, police found 24 folds of suspected heroin in the vehicle along with drug paraphernalia, Gallagher said.

Gezer was charged with receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of hypodermic needles, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle.

Chacon was charged with receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.