Columbus sues ‘crime-plagued’ downtown Greyhound station

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A downtown Greyhound bus station that has been the scene of hundreds of emergency calls this year alone is a public nuisance, the city of Columbus and its police department declared in a lawsuit Thursday.

City Attorney Zach Klein and the Columbus Division of Police filed the complaint against the bus carrier. They are seeking preliminary and permeant injunctive relief against the “crime-plagued” property.

“The continued violence occurring at this property has plagued our city’s downtown residents, businesses, and visitors for too long,” Klein said in a statement.

The lawsuit comes as Columbus police report having received more than 300 calls for service to the bus station so far in 2021. The calls, the department said, have ranged from concerns about guns, narcotics, stabbings, overdoses and a shooting last month.

In four months, there were approximately four overdoses at the station, in addition to around 11 narcotics complaints, the statement read.

The department says the property, located in a highly-populated part of downtown, has been on their radar for several years. The public safety concerns also stem from the station being in close proximity to a daycare center and a number of restaurants and hotels.

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