A month after a Baltimore man was charged with sex trafficking and robbery connected to activity at Elkridge motels, many residents expressed support for a Howard County Council bill that would prohibit hourly rentals in lodging establishments.

“This bill aims to curb and and disincentivize those motels contributing and profiting from that kind of alleged criminal activity,” said the bill’s sponsor, Council Chair Liz Walsh, whose district includes Elkridge.

Residents have been raising concerns about illegal activities and sex trafficking occurring in the motels lining the Route 1 corridor in Elkridge. In response, state Sen. Clarence Lam sponsored a bill in the Maryland General Assembly to prohibit hourly room rentals.

But leaders decided the legislation could be handled at the local level, with Walsh proposing a bill during the council’s March 3 legislative session.

To be voted on April 7, the bill prohibits a lodging establishment’s owners, operators, managers, keepers or employees from providing or offering the rental of a room at an hourly rate. Rental of a meeting room, dining room or banquet space is not subject to the regulation.

“We have generous neighbors in Elkridge who bring food, clothing, toys to families who may be temporarily residing in the motels. These families report how awful the conditions are in and how traumatic it is to be amongst all of the illegal activity,” Laura Wisely, an Elkridge Community Alliance member said during a public hearing Monday. “When it comes to transitional housing, surely Howard County can do better.”

There are 12 motels from her home to Guilford Park along Route 1 that have lost their “nostalgic appeal,” Wisely said. The county needs another tool to combat the crimes people allege are happening in the establishments, she said as she thanked police for their efforts.

The legislation can help “put a dent” in the “hotbed for human trafficking” that Elkridge is due to its location between two large cities, said Kevin Chin, an emergency room doctor who said he often sees patients who are victims of trafficking, during the hearing.

The public hearing comes after 27-year-old Robert Bennett Jr., known as “RoFo,” was arrested and charged Feb. 6 with 47 counts of sex trafficking, prostitution, armed robbery, theft, weapon violations and other charges after he allegedly operated in an Elkridge motel and the surrounding area.

In a November 2024 interview with Howard County Police, a tipster identified Bennett among multiple individuals taking part in illicit activities at the Terrace Motel in Elkridge. According to charging documents, the tipster told police that Bennett is known for carrying a gun, selling cocaine and heroin, and fronting drugs to people at the motel, then demanding money and getting violent with them when they do not pay.

The person told police he saw Bennett with a female “who was potentially being trafficked, according to the charging documents. When police interviewed her, she said she was not being trafficked, but Bennett would provide her drugs and ask for sexual favors in return. Police watched Bennett conduct numerous drug sales in the Terrace Motel parking lot and were able to confirm that Bennett used his real name to reserve rooms at the motel, the documents say.

Police said they were able to link Bennett’s phone number to several advertisements for commercial sex.

In early January of this year, detectives interviewed the victim of an armed robbery allegedly committed by Bennett. The victim explained that of the drug dealers working out of the Terrace Motel and other motels in Elkridge, “‘RoFo’ is one of the ‘bigger’ drug dealers,” the documents say. “RoFo” gave the victim drugs while at the motel even though he declined because he couldn’t pay for them, according to the charging documents.

While at a gas station, Bennett confronted the victim, demanding money, assaulting him with a gun, threatening his life and taking his wallet, according to the documents.

Bennett was arrested near Cindy’s Soft Serve in Elkridge, a place where families often visit. His attorney could not immediately reached for comment.

Karina Fisher said at the hearing that she and other residents are concerned about how the legislation will be enforced to ensure hotels and motels are complying with the ban on hourly rates. Still, she said the community is thankful for the bill.

“For years, years, years, Elkridge, Route 1, everyone in the county surrounding has been sharing the horror stories of these motels and what they’re seeing,” Fisher said.

“And the fact that this particular motel that you described is right by soft-serve ice cream, where kids go and families go, and the latest arrest had 47 counts against him is just more, I think, than you can kind of stomach.”

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