ST. LOUIS - People who live in one south St. Louis neighborhood say drug deals, prostitution and violence are plaguing their streets, and they’re fed up with a gas station they believe is the root of the problem.
Workers at the bar across the street from the BP at Bates and Virginia say the gas station’s issues are impacting their bottom line.
"We've lost a lost a business with what's going on,” Tin Cup bartender Kitty Morrow said.
She say her customers watch drug deals and prostitution out the window while they sip their beer. There was a shooting in the parking lot earlier this week.
"Prostitutes walking up and down the street, jumping in cars and jumping out of the same cars 15, 20 minutes later,” she said.
Neighbors aren’t happy either.
"That's also the first thing people see when they come to my house,” Christian Corzine said.
St. Louis Police say while they don't have a record of specific drug or prostitution calls to the gas station, the business is under a public nuisance notice because of the high volume of other 911 calls police have received about it.
Officers, representatives from the city counselor’s office and the gas station's owner are required to meet about the issue early next month.
"If they can't fix the issue, and the owner doesn't take responsibility for what's going in his parking lot, I'd ultimately like to see it closed down,” Corzine said.
Those who live here and those who work here are hoping for change, fast.
"The police need to be on it. On it. On it. On it,” Morrow said.
The owner of the gas station declined to be interviewed on camera, but he says he’s owned the business for 18 years and has seen an increase in crime in the last two years. But he says that trouble comes from a changing neighborhood, and he believes he’s being unfairly blamed.
