Cayce, SC (Paul Kirby) – While on the scene of a stabbing at the Knight’s Inn on Airport Boulevard Thursday, Cayce’s Director of Public Safety Byron Snellgrove, could not contain his frustration with the motel or its owner. He was overheard saying he’d had enough of the Knights Inn, its problematic owner, and the crimes that regularly occur there.
The property changed hands earlier in the year, and records indicate that crime has skyrocketed at the business since that sale. In 12 hours Thursday, officers from Cayce made four responses to the Knight’s Inn. One of them may lead to charges of attempted murder. The new owner of the business was charged and convicted of running a nuisance business by Chief Snellgrove. On Thursday, Snellgrove was talking to some of his officers about the business' owner when he said, “If he can’t clean his place up, I will!” For anyone who knows the chief, an imposing man that stands well over 6 feet tall and has the determination of a pit bull, they realize that this is no hollow commitment.
In the same conversation, Snellgrove told his staff that the Knights Inn was the most crime ridden area of the city and he was tired of the lackadaisical attitude of its owner. Since he took over, the property’s owner has removed security cameras and has been very uncooperative with officers during investigations. Snellgrove had said in the past that the Knights Inn’s owner wouldn’t answer officer's questions or provide even basic information on registered guests as required by law. “There’s no more outs for him,” Snellgrove told his staff. “If we have to park a car here with officers in it, we are going to snuff out all crime at this business, no matter how small! If I have to do that, it's gonna cost the man who owns the place and tolerates this behavior.”
Chief Snellgrove said Thursday while their officers were leaving the scene of the stabbing that most business owners in Cayce are extremely cooperative with the police. “Other businesses that have problems with crime always work with us. They want their businesses to be places that people are comfortable going to,” Snellgrove said. He continued by saying that if the owner of the Knights Inn would partner with his officers, the problems could be reduced overnight. “We are here to help any business that's willing to partner with us. There are however, legal ramifications to the owner of any property that becomes a continual public nuisance. If this property of business's continues to be just that, a place we respond to daily, I will take every avenue available to me to get this place cleaned up. The citizens of Cayce are frustrated and so am I. The good people, the ones that want to live in a city that's safe and peaceful, area simply fed up. This is my responsibility and I can assure you I take it seriously. If he [sic] doesn’t get the place cleaned up, I will get it done!”
