Police encountered a peaceful crowd of traveling sales people
and made no arrests when they responded to a call reporting a
disturbance outside the Ramada Inn.
Police encountered a peaceful crowd of traveling sales people and made no arrests when they responded to a call reporting a disturbance outside the Ramada Inn.
About a half-dozen officers rushed to the scene when someone called Morgan Hill police to report about 30 out-of-town visitors outside the hotel on Condit Road, according to Sgt. Troy Hoefling. Police received the call about 11 a.m. today.
The caller said one of the visitors had a gun, and police reports on the scanner said they might have been fighting.
However after police surveyed the scene and interviewed the subjects, they found no evidence of a disturbance or a gun in anyone’s possession, Hoefling said. No one was arrested.
The visitors who gathered at the Ramada from throughout the country are in town to sell magazine subscriptions door-to-door, Hoefling said. They are working for the Paragon Sales company.
Terrell Jackson, one of the visitors and an associate of the company, was perturbed about what he felt was an overreaction.
“We were on our way to work,” Jackson said, adding that today is the “second time” someone has called police on the group since they’ve been in town.
Hoefling said he is unaware of a previous call to the site.
He added the initial report of a disturbance originated from a guest at the hotel, from a room that was registered with the sales group.
Numerous officers were initially dispatched to the scene because police did not know how dangerous or threatening the scene might be, Hoefling explained.
Furthermore, although no one else has complained specifically about anyone associated with the group currently staying at the Ramada, police often receive calls from residents reporting unlicensed door-to-door sales people knocking on doors in Morgan Hill neighborhoods, Hoefling said.
Door-to-door sales people are required by municipal code to acquire permits at city hall.
