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Thanks to a rash of drug trafficking, prostitution, assaults, robberies and thefts, a Midtown store was closed Thursday as a public nuisance, according to Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich.
The tiny Express Deli and Grocery at 1295 Jefferson was closed after an investigation by the Memphis Police Department’s (MPD) Organized Crime Unit.
From June 2016 and September 2018, the store was the site of 69 calls for police service, according to the MPD. Those resulted in 43 incident reports and 29 arrests, including 17 felony arrests on the store’s premises and surrounding property. MPD said the store attracts loiterers, crack cocaine traffickers, and is the site of “illegal and dangerous activity.”
The store’s owner, Fatima Saeidi, is scheduled for a hearing at 10:30 a.m. Monday before Judge Patrick Dandridge in Environmental Court. Saeidi will be asked to show why the temporary injunction/restraining order should not be made permanent.
