Judge dismisses city complaint against Adam Food Market
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A business described as a magnet for crime will stay open – for now. That’s thanks to a judge who just tossed out the city’s lawsuit against the Adam Food Market in the International District.
The lawsuit alleges the shop is driving crime in the area, costing taxpayers thousands of dollars in police response.
“They’ve spent almost $100,000 of your taxpayer money, cleaning up and policing that property,” said Mayor Tim Keller.
Earlier this year, city leaders announced plans to shut that business down, even demolish it, calling it a nuisance property.
“Our new ordinance working with the administration is going to give us a much faster track, a city civil option that we can address those issues much more quickly,” said Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis.
But, just this month, a judge slowed that effort down, dismissing the complaint against the Adam Market altogether.
A win for Adam Market business and property owners.
“We think we are being targeted, and we are not going to stand for it,” said Britany Schaffer, attorney.
Schaffer represents the business owners, and she says they’ve taken steps to help curb crime and will continue to.
“They seem to be of the mind that business owners need to be taking on police roles which is simply not appropriate. It goes against the idea that these business owners are taxpayers and tax money does go towards law enforcement and police powers,” said Schaffer.
Now, she hopes it’s back to the table for city officials and APD, so they can all move forward with a better plan to fight crime.
KOB 4 reached out to APD for a response and never heard back.
A spokesperson for the city says it’s evaluating possible next steps. They tell us the city is interested in exploring solutions to improve public safety.
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