Extended Stay Meth-America

[freshie247]

So...,I skied some awesome N. Utah pow yesterday, & thought when I crushed my brand BD's on a rock last run,I wouldn't have to deal with anymore unpleasantness.I couldn't have been more wrong!

My buddies & I were staying at Extended Stay America in Sandy;they had a room ,& I had a room.At around 1am, I here a bang out in the hallway.I see shadows moving across the bottom of the door.I look through the fisheye & see several cops with a german shepard.I see several firemen go by,followed by DEA spooks,WTF!I look out the window,& there are no less than 4 fire trucks,2 fire marshall SUV's,2 cop cars & 2 K9 trucks,now I'm getting very concerned! I call my buddy's phone several times until he angrily answers,"WTF dude,I'm sleeping!"

I tell him that at least 10 different government officials,some with guns drawn, have gone down the hall towords their room.I'm talking to him when I hear a knock through the phone.My buddy says," They're knocking," and hangs up. I'm not walking out my door with a bevy of heavily armed ,trigger happy,goosestepping, SS henchmen on the loose.I watch through the fisheye & see 2 cops go by with my buddy behind them.A few minutes later (a very long time)he calls & says the cops are looking for a meth lab & are removing everyone from their rooms.

I get dressed as the knock comes to my door.I open the door,& am greeted by 2 firemen with some sort of air sniffing device,2 cops with drawn,cocked pistols & 2 DEA spooks.The fireman asks me if everything is ok while thrusting the device into my face.

I say," You mean other than the fact I'm being accosted by armed men in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping,that kind of all right?"

He asks me about the smell in the hall,& what I've been doing.
I reply,"I'm sleeping , what do you think I'm doing!"

He looks at the device,shakes his head no to the others,& tells me to go downstairs to the lobby.I get dressed & peek out the door as they move down the hall,watching their protocol.Knock,identify,demand access,& have guns drawn with the hammer back.The other people don't want to open their doors & this makes the cops irritated & spooked.Slowly one by one they open their doors & I watch the same process a few times.If meth labs are so dangerous & prone to explode,why would officers even thing of firing a gun in the vicinity of such a potentially combustible situation?

I go downstairs & talk with my friends.After a couple of hours they've searched the hotel with dogs,AND FOUND NO METH LAB.They say Extended stay America is a haven for meth lab maker,but sorry,...we can go back to our rooms.At 4 am or so I finally get back to sleep.I'm really tired in the morning & we bail on skiing to find a new place to stay.I politely explain to the M.O.D that there is nothing she can do to get me to stay there ever again,& that I feel violated having cops with dogs,spooks & firemen go through my room.She explains it's never happened before in her 4 years there,I tell her I find no solice in that tidbit.She asks what I want,I reply," to feel unviolated again."

She tells me, a guest smelt something funny & called the cops (out of paranoid delusions IMO).I tell her I will never stay there again & will bad mouth her company any chance I get for the rest of my life.She comps part of our stay .Here I am staying true to my promise.

NEVER,EVER STAY AT EXTENDED STAY "METH" AMERICA,Unless you fancy being rousted in the night by gun toting Nazis & firemen in full Hazmat gear.

I have a lot of great friends in Utah,& I love skiing here, but there is a different feel to the prevailing culture here ,and I find it oppressive.I'm all for busting Meth lab makers,but this was ridiculous & way beyond paranoid.

I know some will think that this could happen anywhere,& while it could,it didn't,it happen here in Utah.I now have a new definitive answer as to why I live where I live.

[Big Blue]

This reminds me of a post from a while ago about a concert/rave being broken up by a bunch of heavily armed swat types. Utah justice. Yee haw.

[SkiingBear]

...I know some will think that this could happen anywhere,& while it could,it didn't,it happen here in Utah.I now have a new definitive answer as to why I live where I live.

Fine, go back to Boulder...the land of no meth labs. The lack of another skier in our lift-lines will not be missed.

I feel bad about what happened, but it's a matter of bad timing and nothing more. Honestly, I see nothing in that story that really links it to Extended Stay America other than your staying there. That same guest could have called the cops at a Holiday Inn...do you really think their staff would be any more inclined to refuse the police the right to search?

Think this through again after you've had a week or two...I think you might see some of it differently.

What if they had found a meth lab, would that have made this better for you?

[truth]

Fine, go back to Boulder...the land of no meth labs. The lack of another skier in our lift-lines will not be missed.

You're such a douche.

[zion zig zag]

I enjoyed skiing powder with you the other day. That being said, gimmie a break. What should they have done? Ignored the complaint and let you sleep hoping that it was a false alarm? I'm guessing you also would have been upset if you had burned to death at some point during the night.

I guess if this had happened in CA it would have been the nice officers instead of nazis?

[GrabAss]

ha ha that sucks man. i hear why you are angry.

[The AD]

Are they legally allowed to search your room? Anyone know?

I partially agree with SkiingBear here. I can imagine you'd be pissed, but it isn't really the hotel's fault, is it?

[Trackhead]

Unless you fancy being rousted in the night by gun toting Nazis & firemen in full Hazmat gear.

Nazi's???? Nice.

They were doing their job. Tough shit.

Next time you need a cop, maybe you can call 911 and beg for the Nazi's to come.

[shmerham]

Are they legally allowed to search your room? Anyone know?

I partially agree with SkiingBear here. I can imagine you'd be pissed, but it isn't really the hotel's fault, is it?

Well, they do have kitchenettes. So technically it is.

[meatdrink9]

Unfortunately Utah appears to be meth central and I'm sure that gets people seeing, hearing, and smelling things that aren't there out of paranoia. My wife is a pharmacist and has worked in several states. The very first thing she said after her first day back at work in Utah is that meth is out of control here. One of the most prescribed drugs here is a drug that's supposed to help meth addicts break the addiction. Before moving back here I'd never heard of anyone I'd encountered wanting to party on meth. Then while in Park City for Sundance some waitresses at a restaurant were throwing themselves at us. MOE, truth and myself all bailed, but truth's cousin went to hang with the local Park City girls. When we got the report the next day he told us all they wanted to go was go score meth. Crazy stuff.

[Trackhead]

I'm all for busting Meth lab makers,but this was ridiculous & way beyond paranoid.

Maybe you should be the master commander then, and tell them where to go, and when.

[Blurred]

Hey Freshies-

Call the cops routinely every week saying that "you're a guest at the Extended Stay America" and that there's a "very strong odor of Meth".

[dbp]

I don't know how much this had to do with Extended Stay.

- I believe Utah has the most meth labs per capita in the US
- budget motels in general are a favorite place to set up labs
- Utah is a conservative state that I am sure likes their law and order
- Meth labs are very dangerous and not just because they can blow up
- someone called the cops about a strange smell

... not too surprising they came a knocking

[zion zig zag]

Alot of meth labs here, but not quite the epicenter of the meth world. Edit: yeah, per capita makes sense.

[Lone Star]

Hey Freshies-

Call the cops routinely every week saying that "you're a guest at the Extended Stay America" and that there's a "very strong odor of Meth".

Survey Says...... dingdingdingdingding



Meth is scary shit. Put yourself in the shoes of the officers who have to get close to that stuff-- not too different than being the guy that has to defuse bombs. It definitely sucks that they might have crossed the line a little bit but I imagine those "Nazis" are pretty dang nervous when they have to deal with a potential methlab.

[bio-smear]

And Missouri is on top of the leader board with 371 confirmed busts....Ozark pride!!

[Tippster]

Meth Labs are some serious shit - depending on the style of production you and your buddies could have died in your sleep. There's a super-toxic gas that's emitted if not all the variables are accounted for in one of the three most common methods of making meth-amphetamines. The blowing up thing is only common with one of the other two -- due to the use of lithium which can explode when it is accidentally combined with water.

I understand your frustration, but give the cops, fire dept., and hotel mgt. a pass on this one. Had things been slightly different they may have saved your life.

[dbp]

I read somewhere that some large percentage (80?) of meth comes from "superlabs" in Mexico, CA, and AZ. Most of the busts are little home labs. I would say they aren't really putting a dent in supply. I guess those raids have more to do with public safety than the war on drugs.

Saw lots of interesting graphics on this page.
http://www.oregonlive.com/special/or.../meth/stories/

including how to build your own lab.
http://www.oregonlive.com/special/or...h_superlab.pdf

[Trackhead]

I understand your frustration, but give the cops, fire dept., and hotel mgt. a pass on this one. Had things been slightly different they may have saved your life.

Thank you.

I get so sick of the whining. They pulled guns, they did this, they did that. Why the hell do you think they do that? Because they routinely get guns pointed right back by twitched out meth heads.

I would rather see a cop go home to his family alive, because he had his gun ready to whack a meth head, than some fucking meth head whacking a cop.

Those cops did nothing wrong, nor anything excessive.

[vanilla gorilla]

Are they legally allowed to search your room? Anyone know?

When you rent a room at a hotel you have the same expection of privacy as you would in your own home so cops would need probable cause and typically a warrant. That being said, there are exceptions and in some situations entry can be made with out the warrant. Exigent/emergency situations being the first thing that comes to mind. If there is some imminent situation that is potentially harmful to the public if not IMMEDIATELY resolved, then cops can enter without the warrant.

Where i work we also have a lot of labs in motels and our courts say we must get a warrant. When we execute them we try to ensure everyone is safe and QUIETLY evacuate all surrounding rooms.

Labs and the people who run them can be dangerous people so guns are a necessary evil. Im sure you were startled but it was for everyones safety. I dont get why you would be upset with the hotel?

[bagtagley]

I've stayed there more times than I can remember, and I'd stay there again. The same thing could have happened at any hotel chain. Cops will be cops, regardless of the establishment.

Besides, how many hotels have a Krispy Kream AND an IHOP right next door?

[iceman]

Those cops did nothing wrong, nor anything excessive.

Fuck that, your brain is wired wrong. When an innocent citizen is rousted out of bed by overarmed thugs with no probable cause that's a crime by the state. It's illegal.

Do you understand how that works?

[vanilla gorilla]

p.s. methheads are freaks. last nite i got to kick in a door so i could go in and recover a womans nose from a kitchen floor. her methhead girlfriend bit the majority of it off.

we also had methhead get dumped in the middle of nowhere by other methheads because he owed them money for meth. they dumped him without a jacket/phone/shoes. it was -20 degrees last nite. luckily the crook methheads werent very smart and dropped him off near a rest area with a nice warm open public building.

[iceman]

And what the fuck does that have to do with violating the constitution?

Methheads are freaks. Most people aren't.

That's why we have a constitution.

[truth]

Next time you need a cop, maybe you can call 911 and beg for the Nazi's to come.

I can't recall or envision any scenario where I would need a cop.

Nazi's are in Idaho, not Utah.