Greyhound Bus Stop Causing Increased Calls To Sheriff’s Office

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Greyhound caused a stir in Dade County when the company moved its Chattanooga bus stop out of the city and into Wildwood at the end of 2023. (See the Dec. 7, 2023, Sentinel). In mid-November of that year, Billy’s Truck Stop (the Exxon on GA-299) became the new home of the bus stop. One-and-a-half years later, the Dade County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) now has enough data to show that passengers on the bus line are disrupting the community.

Annual calls to DCSO from people at the gas station have drastically increased since Greyhound arrived, and having responded to the calls, the sheriff’s office knows that they are caused by passengers on the bus.

• 2022: 3 calls
• 2023 (prior to Greyhound, 10.5 months): 5 calls
• 2023 (after Greyhound, 1.5 months): 11 calls
• 2024: 101 calls
• 2025 (as of mid-April): 22 calls

In December 2024, the Alcohol Beverage Control Board held a meeting with representatives from the sheriff’s office, the gas station, and Greyhound to discuss the issue. They held a follow-up meeting on April 15 (which Greyhound did not attend) and will convene again in July.

Even though it’s not directly tied to alcohol licenses, this situation falls on the ABC Board due to specifications in the county ordinances. Section 6-13 (d) authorizes the ABC Board to suspend alcohol licenses for the following (and other) infractions:

• “Any licensee has knowingly allowed the violation of a county ordinance or a violation of any criminal law of the state to occur on the premises, to include the entire owned parcel.”
• “The occurrence on two (2) or more occasions within any twelve-month period of fights, disorderly conduct, drunkenness, breach of the peace, and other similar conduct on the premises, to include the entire owned parcel, whether such conduct is committed by the licensee or by customers or others.”

Suspending the license won’t fix the problem, but the measure puts pressure on the store to end the contract with Greyhound.

However, there are multiple parties involved. The property is owned by one group: The tax assessor’s site lists Billal & Farzin Inc. as the owner, and the ABC Board has communicated with Salim Mohammad who is one of the property owners. Then, Rabab Kamal is leasing the store from the property owners, and Muhammond Mughal is the store manager. Only Mughal and a family friend attended the April meeting.

Melissa Bradford (District Four commissioner) attended as well, even though this isn’t her district. She felt that a representative from the county commission ought to be present.

Tommy Bradford (DCSO chief deputy) recapped the increase in calls, noting that the problems haven’t decreased since the December meeting. Call types include harassment, suspicious vehicles/persons, warrants, non-domestic disturbances, and overdoses.

The suspicious persons calls are typically due to mental health problems. One call about stalking was from a mentally unstable passenger who was imagining that he was being stalked.

Recently, another sheriff’s office called DCSO to alert them that two people from a northern state who are wanted for home invasion were suspected to be traveling on Greyhound. DCSO picked them up at the Wildwood bus stop and found large quantities of fentanyl on the pair who had been traveling under false names.

A few days after the April meeting, Bradford reported that DCSO had another call the morning after the meeting (not included in the 22 number) from a bus passenger who wanted the sheriff’s department to drive him into Chattanooga.

Robin Rogers (county attorney) asked how many calls stores in that area typically generate. Bradford said the next highest is the Pilot/ONE9 that averages 20 something calls a year.

Mughal insisted that he keeps a careful watch over the store and property. Bradford explained that the data doesn’t lie, and the officers know about the situations because they’ve been the ones responding to the calls.

Doug “Peanut” Moore (ABC chairman) said the question he’s trying to figure out is how the store can stop the nuisances. Bradford said that while he doesn’t doubt Mughal has made an effort to keep the situation under control, it’s ultimately beyond the store’s ability to handle; the responsibility lies with Greyhound.

Bradford added that the real reason Greyhound isn’t in Chattanooga anymore is because Chattanooga is fed up with these problems. “That’s why they couldn’t find another location inside Chattanooga rather than having to come to Wildwood where there’s no resources for anybody that’s getting off there who has no money, which is partly why they’re on that bus, or they’re just getting out of prison, or they can move their drugs without being detected.”

Speaking especially about the mental health cases, he said, “You’re bringing us a lot of issues that we don’t have resources for. It’s not fair to our community, and it’s not fair to your customers who are being harassed.”

Mughal disagreed with the DCSO’s and ABC Board’s assessment of the severity of the issue, adding that the store needs the business. Bradford said, “I think you could get a lot more customers based off locals…but I know a bunch who don’t go right now because of [these issues].”

The property owners have the contract with Greyhound, but Mughal indicated that he and the store owner have a say into whether or not Greyhound stays. It sounded like both the store and property owners make money from Greyhound, but Mughal said that even so, the business is barely staying afloat.

The ABC Board voted to wait until July to reach a decision about the store’s beer and wine license, although the general consensus was that the issue won’t improve. Another three months gives the store and property owners another chance to see if they can fix the problem, but if there’s still no improvement, the county commission will need to get involved.

When the Sentinel covered the initial Greyhound move, the bus company was uninterested in commenting or even being contacted. Per the 2023, article: “The Sentinel was unable to find out why Greyhound did not/could not find another location in Chattanooga. As of press time, the Sentinel has not heard back from Greyhound. Dave Flessner, reporter for the Times Free Press, said he did not hear back from Greyhound, and News Channel 12 also had not heard from the bus company. The Greyhound employee at the Wildwood location did not offer a comment to the Sentinel, nor was she able to provide contact information for a Greyhound spokesperson.”

This time around, the Sentinel contacted Ricky Vaughn, a Greyhound representative who attended the December meeting. Vaughn would not comment but instead directed the Sentinel to call Ike Hajinazarian, a PR/communications representative.

Hajinazarian sent the following statement, which contradicts DCSO’s evidence: “Our experience shows that security issues often stem from outsiders, not our ticketed riders. In Wildwood, we’ve taken steps to address local concerns and remain committed to being a responsible partner in the community. We’ve worked with local officials over the past several months and are pleased to have seen significant improvements as a result of those efforts.”