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On July 30, 2003
members of the Santa Monica Police Department served a search warrant
at the Holiday Motel, located at 1102 Pico Blvd, and an arrest warrant
for its owner, Maurice Farzam. The warrants ended a yearlong
investigation into criminal activity by Farzam. Santa Monica Fire
Department, Fire Inspectors, the Los Angeles County Health Department,
and members of the City of Santa Monica's Building and Safety, Code
Compliance Unit conducted inspections of the hotel, which ran
concurrently with the search warrant service. Police investigators
also conducted a follow-up search warrant at Farzam's residence.
The investigation was
prompted by a lengthy history of excessive police calls for service at
the hotel involving mostly prostitution, illegal drug activity, and
other nuisance violations. In the past 4-½ years, the Santa Monica
Police Department received over 150 calls for service pertaining to
the Holiday Motel. Citizens also called S.M.P.D.'s Vice Unit and
complained of illegal activity occurring at or near the motel. During
the course of their investigation, police detectives received
twenty-four signed citizen declarations from the neighbors living
around the Holiday Motel. These declarations illustrated to law
enforcement that the illegal activity occurring at the motel was not
only adversely affecting the quality of life in the neighborhood, but
was also common knowledge among the residents in the area.
Investigators
believed that the building was in sub-standard condition and called
upon the expertise of the Fire Department and Building and Safety
Department to investigate. Thei inspections revealed 103 building code
violations involving sub-standard maintenance and sanitary conditions
at the motel. The Fire Department found four fire code violations
including non-existent or inoperable smoke detectors in all of the
units.
The owner of the
motel, Maurice Farzam, was arrested and later booked at the Santa
Monica Police Department Jail for 266 (H) of the California Penal Code
(Pimping). His bail was set at $200,000.
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