A Kanawha County judge has granted a preliminary injunction sought by the city of Charleston seeking to have a convenience store shut down on the city’s East End, claiming the business where police conducted a raid hours before is a public nuisance.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers granted the preliminary injunction the city had sought for the Par Mar convenience store on Washington Street East. A permanent injunction hearing is set for Dec. 7.

Multiple people were in custody Tuesday after Charleston police served multiple warrants at the Par Mar convenience store on the corner of Washington Street East and Ruffner Avenue.

As part of a lengthy drug investigation, police said there were 20 warrants obtained that included employees at the store, customers and people at a home across the street. Several employees were accused of selling drugs from inside the store and in the parking lot, police said.

In its court filing against Croesus East Charleston Holding LLC and Par Mar Oil Co., an Ohio corporation, city attorney Kevin Baker said the business and building at 1503 Washington St. E. was a public nuisance and should be shuttered and padlocked.

The city alleges the East End Par Mar is a public nuisance and a hazard to the health of the neighborhood and community at large. Between Jan. 1, 2022, and Nov. 28, 2022, the store had been the location of more than 350 separate calls for emergency service.

According to the court filing, the calls include multiple disturbances and suspicious activity and numerous drug activity and alcohol-related calls.

“The East End Par Mar and the public rights of way adjacent to the East End Par Mar have become an area where it is common to find individuals loitering, some of whom are frequently in a state of intoxication,” the city alleges.

Charleston police issued citations and made arrests at least 97 times at the East End Par Mar, the city said.

The city also noted that on May 7, 2022, there was a shooting about 6:50 p.m. in the parking lot of the store involving two people who apparently knew one another and were engaged in a confrontation.

Following the shooting, Charleston police devoted additional resources to the area surround the East End Par Mar and identified another group of individuals who were loitering at the store and the public right of way and were engaged in drug sales on the premises, the city said.

A Charleston police confidential informant participated in multiple controlled buys of illegal drugs from the East End Par Mar, including purchases that were completed inside the store, the city said.

Court records said Charleston police confirmed the presence of illegal drugs for sale inside the store through one of the controlled buys, which resulted in a person retrieving drugs from inside an East End Par Mar trash can, where they were hidden.

The city said police confirmed that at least one Par Mar Oil Co. employee at the East End Par Mar “directly facilitated the sale of illegal drugs inside Par Mar Store #116.” The court filing also alleged that police confirmed an employee who serves as a manager at the store is "aware" of the sale of illegal drugs inside the store and "has passively allowed the sales to happen, by simply urging the individuals at issue to 'hurry up.' "

Court records said Charleston police also conducted undercover surveillance of the East End Par Mar, where they saw at least two times two separate vehicles idling or parking next to a gas pump for multiple hours without purchasing any gasoline and “during which time the individuals in the vehicle interacted with the individuals selling drugs from the East End Par Mar.”

The defendants have 30 days to answer the the injunction.

Charleston police arrived at the business about 5 p.m. on Tuesday to shut the store down.