ELYRIA — The city is doing everything it can to make sure Kush, the Broad Street establishment known to sell the illegal synthetic drug known as “bath salts,” does not reopen.
Two days after the building that houses the store and apartments was condemned and boarded by the city, Law Director Scott Serazin sought to have the business declared a nuisance and barred from re-opening.
“Even though it was shut down and condemned, we are trying to make as many barriers as possible to reopening the store with the type of merchandise it sells,” Serazin said. “A lot of illicit activity has been traced to this location and we have been working on this for quite some time.”
The complaint filed Friday in Lorain County Commons Pleas Court said it was Dec. 19 when detectives and officers first entered the store and saw the store’s owner openly smoking marijuana. Patrons known to officers as having had criminal and/or drug histories were also in the store.
A search yielded drugs, money and several guns, including an AK-47, according to the complaint.
The search led to criminal charges against the store’s owner, Dave Jones, who does not own the building, and a store employee Ricardo Pamplin.
Jones, Pamplin and the building’s owner, Russell & Leighton, an Ohio partnership, are named in the city’s lawsuit.
A hearing to determine if a temporary restraining order will be granted is set for Friday in front of Judge James Miraldi.
“The basis for our complaint is this place is a nuisance based upon the types of activities that have been going on there in addition to the sorry state of the building,” Serazin said.
If the city is granted the injunction, Serazin said it can be used as ammunition should Jones try to open up in another location in the city. The city would fight that as well, he said.
The last time the city fought to have a business declared a nuisance was to put the final nail in the coffin of Uncle Vic’s Night Club. The downtown nightclub had a number of liquor violations and was a haven for violent behavior prior to the city getting it shut down.
Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121or lroberson@chroniclet.com.
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