SALT LAKE CITY — Police say they made nine arrests of people refusing to leave a former motel, which is being converted into a “temporary winter overflow shelter” set to open later this month, according to a press release from the Salt Lake City Police Department Saturday.
In late October, police say they had “received information about several people potentially burglarizing and criminally trespassing inside several former motel rooms, located at 1990 West North Temple Street.”
The location, known as Ville 1990, is planning on operating 210 beds for the winter, according to the Office of Homeless Services, to bring the total across the state up to 982 beds.
During the conversion from motel to shelter, “several people gained access to more than 10 rooms and refused to leave when asked by management,” the release said, with staff reporting “some of the individuals criminally trespassing intimidated shelter workers.”
Officers went …