Ex-Motel Security Guard Accused of Shooting Manager, Killing Self is ID’d www.privateofficer.com

St Petersburg FL May 15 2013

Police say that a fired security guard shot the hotel manager and later committed suicide.
Detectives have identified Anthony Graig Taylor, 45, as the man accused of shooting the manager at a St. Petersburg motel and then killing himself early Tuesday morning.
Witnesses told police Taylor had worked as a security guard and was staying in one of the rooms at the New Plaza Motel but was fired because he had gotten into “several confrontations” with motel patriots, St. Petersburg Police.
Taylor was still allowed to rent a room after his firing but had recently been told he was evicted because he was behind on his rent, police said.
The motive in the shooting of manager Jerome Horacek remains unclear, police said, because Horacek was not responsible for Taylor’s firing or eviction. The two had had “casual conversation” about an hour before the shooting, officials said.
Detectives said they believe Taylor may have been attempting to rob Horacek, “who immediately attempted to flee once Taylor entered the office and pointed the handgun at him,” the police stated. Taylor “was seen shooting out of the window at the office entrance as Horacek fled.
Horaceck suffered multiple gunshot wounds in his upper torso but is expected to survive, authorities said.
A K-9 unit later found Taylor’s body in a lot at 3462 3rd Ave. N. after he had apparently committed suicide with the same handgun used in the shooting, according to police.
The investigation is still ongoing.

Hotel security finds man dead at Hyatt Regency Dallas www.privateofficer.com

 

DALLAS TX May 12 2013—A man from Missouri was found dead early Wednesday in the second-floor atrium lobby of the 30-story Hyatt Regency Dallas after he evidently fell from an upper floor.

A hotel security guard discovered the body of Craig McKinnon Berry, 37, of Wentzville, Mo., after a hotel employee heard a loud thud and contacted security.

A hotel spokesman says the man evidently fell from the 12th floor of the downtown Dallas hotel, whose interior atrium is 18 stories high. Police are investigating the incident as an unexplained death.

Further details weren’t immediately available.

Hyatt hotel worker accused of trying to record guest www.privateofficer.com

AUSTIN TX May 3 2013 — Business travelers and vacationers expect the best from their hotel stay, especially when it comes to privacy.

“I kind of check around to make sure everything is copacetic,” said Nichole Bucher who works downtown. “But, you know, hotels have a great security staff where I always feel safe.”
Bucher says she often travels for work and is shocked to hear an Austin hotel employee invaded a guest’s privacy.

“That is absolutely horrible. You check into a hotel and you expect that privacy and that little oasis,” she said.
A housekeeper at the Hyatt Regency hotel located at 208 Barton Springs is charged with misdemeanor attempted improper photography and visual recording.
Blue Moo Too, 30, is charged after his cell phone was found hidden in a ceiling tile above the shower of one of the hotel rooms.
Police say a guest reported hearing an alarm-type sound coming from the bathroom area of her hotel room while she was in the shower. She found a small pinhole with a camera lens behind it in the ceiling. After moving the tiles, she discovered the cell phone.
Hotel security removed the camera from the ceiling and noted that it was powered on.
Video on the phone showed a man placing it in the bathroom ceiling and wiping away his footprints from the bathtub.
The hotel’s executive housekeeper identified the man as her employee, Too, a housekeeper at the hotel.
The room’s electric lock showed Too had entered the room the day prior with the key assigned to him.
So how can you protect yourself?
Super Circuits, a company in North Austin that specializes in security cameras, says when the “Do not disturb sign” doesn’t cut it, there are plenty of ways for a hotel guest, or anyone, to detect if someone is watching them.

“There’s three main types we’re going to push you towards. One is to find the physical camera, another to show the cell phone or GPS tracker, and the third is to find a wireless signal,” said Rob Thomas with Super Circuits.
The gadgets typically cost around $100 and can be found online. It’s an investment cautious guests might consider for their next hotel stay.
“I’m going to check everything,” said Bucher
Too was booked into Travis County Jail on April 12 with a $25,000 bail. He has since bonded out.
Police say they didn’t find evidence of any other victims on his cell phone. His computer is still being looked at.
At this time, the former housekeeper is facing up to one year in jail and a fine of no more than $4,000.
source-kvue

Seattle Sheraton Hotel security officer injured by trespasser www.privateofficer.com

SEATTLE WA April 28 2013 — A man found sleeping in the stairwell on the 27th floor of the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Seattle attacked a security guard as he attempted to escape, according to the Seattle Police Department.

According to the police report for the incident, a security guard found the man shortly after 2:15 a.m. Monday and asked him to leave since he was not a guest at the hotel.

The man took off running through the hotel as the security guard gave chase. At one point, the man turned around and punched the security guard in the nose, according to the report.

The security guard chased the man out of the hotel where the man reportedly pulled a knife on him.

The man walked off, and the security guard continued to follow at a distance until officers arrived and arrested the man.

Man charged after meth lab explodes in Rock Hill motel www.privateofficer.com

 

ROCK HILL SC April 23 2013 A Rock Hill motel room is destroyed and an Arkansas man in jail after police say he was cooking methamphetamine in the room, resulting in an explosion that set beds, a television and his own leg on fire early Sunday.
York County drug agents have charged Ronnie Kenneth Brady, 35, with his third manufacturing methamphetamine offense, said Marvin Brown, commander of the county’s multijurisdictional drug enforcement unit.
At about 12:55 a.m., the Rock Hill police and fire departments responded to the Rock Hill Motel on Riverview Road after someone called about a fire in a motel room and parking lot, Brown said. When responders arrived, the room was ablaze.
Firefighters extinguished the fire in the second-floor room, as well as a burning can of Coleman fuel, according to a York County drug unit incident report.
The drug unit and the county’s emergency management department arrived to help evacuate several rooms in the motel, Brown said.
Meanwhile, police found Brady with burns on his left leg at the corner of Riverview and Celanese roads after he fled the scene, Brown said.
According to the report, it appeared that he had been cooking meth when the one-pot lab –a soda bottle– went up in flames.
The gallon can of Coleman fuel, a petroleum-based gas, apparently caught fire, Brown said. Brady then threw the burning can into the parking lot, according to reports.
His leg caught on fire, Brown said, when he tried to stomp out the flames. He was treated by EMS.
The room itself suffered extensive damage as mattresses, television set and telephone caught on fire, Brown said.
“The room’s a total loss,” he said. “The ceiling is completely black.”
No other injuries were reported, and no estimate was available on how much damage was caused at the motel. Officials examined other nearby rooms, but did not report finding any other drug paraphernalia.
Motel management, staff and several guests declined to comment.
One pot meth labs, which take shape in Gatorade bottles, 2-liter soda bottles or any other “small vessel,” are condensed meth labs that are more mobile than their predecessors, said Lt. Max Dorsey with the State Law Enforcement Division last week.
Users fill the bottles with chemicals that react on their own and produce the meth in its liquid form, he said. The manufacturers then use another vessel with salt and acid to solidify the drug into a compound that they drain through a filter to produce the finished product.
“They’re manufacturing it as a ticking time bomb,” he said. “In the pots, you have a bomb potentially.”
Last year, 33-year-old Jason Alan Johnson, also known as “Convict,” was sentenced to 28 years in prison after police say he cooked 60 grams of meth in a room at the Rock Hill Motel in 2011.
Johnson’s co-defendant, Cory Seth Catoe, was also arrested and pleaded guilty to manufacturing meth. He was sentenced to two years in prison followed by two years’ probation.
On Tuesday, Catoe, 29, was behind bars again after deputies serving a family court bench warrant on him found that he and his girlfriend, Brooklyn Barrett Brandon, 26, had a 32-ounce Gatorade bottle they used for cooking 100 grams of meth on the windowsill of an Ebenezer Avenue Extension duplex.
Investigators searched the apartment, confiscating several chemicals. Both Catoe and Brandon remain jailed at the York County Detention Center without bond. Source: Charlotte Observer

D.C. hotel guest accused of kidnapping, sexual abuse www.privateofficer.com

Washington DC April 8 2013 A guest at a downtown Washington hotel was arrested Friday and charged with kidnapping and sexual abuse after an encounter with a woman he found unconscious in the lobby, according to D.C. police and court documents.
Police identified the suspect as David Millard, 60, of Hono­lulu. They said the incident occurred early Thursday at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on H Street NW.
According to a sworn statement filed by police, security camera footage from the hotel lobby showed a man carrying a woman who appeared to be unconscious toward the elevators.
In the statement, police said the woman told them that she drank alcohol before going to a hotel bar and drank more with co-workers at the bar. She said she remembered being in the bar and then nothing more until she awoke “totally undressed” in a hotel room Thursday morning next to a man.
When police later found her in the lobby, she was “visibly shaken and distraught,” authorities said.
An examination at a hospital showed injuries consistent with a sexual act, the statement said.
According to the statement, the suspect told police that he tried to help a woman whom he found “unconscious and/or passed out.” He said he took her to his room but did not force her and had her consent, the statement said.

Source- Washington Post

Oklahoma City police investigating murder-suicide at hotel www.privateofficer.com

OKLAHOMA CITY OK April 6 2013

Police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide on the southeast side of the city.

Two bodies, a man and a woman were found inside of a Days Inn hotel room near SE 25th and I-35 Wednesday evening.

Investigators say 40-year-old Rasheen Sanders shot and killed 27-year-old Eniya Aeon, then turned the gun on himself.

No word on their relationship, although neighbors believe the murder victim may have been seeing multiple men. “I knew her, I knew her very well. She was my upstairs neighbor,” said Janice Jackson. “I looked out for her children when they came outside to play.” Jackson says she and Aeon were like family.

She says the young mother had two young sons and was working to get her life on track. “I’m really shocked, and surprised, because I can’t see how she got in that position. I really can’t see how that happened. I’m just stunned to hear about it, and sad,” said Jackson.

According to Oklahoma City police, just before 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to reports of shots fired and a domestic dispute inside the hotel room. Both Sanders and Aeon have been in trouble with OCPD more than once. “You never know what people do outside of their home,” said Jackson.

“You know, it might have been something that happened just to her.” Now two young boys are without a mom. “My heart goes out to them because they don’t have a mother,” said Jackson. Neighbors tell News 9 Aeon was attending Oklahoma City Community College. The murder-suicide is still under investigation.
Source: news9

Meth lab explodes in Louisana hotel www.privateofficer.com

BATON ROUGE LA April 4 2013- Police responded to a Baton Rouge hotel after reports a meth lab exploded this morning.

Cpl. L’Jean McKneely said it happened at the Crossland Motel off Boardwalk.

He said nobody was on scene when investigators found the clandestine lab, and no arrests have been made

. Sources tell News 2 the explosion happened in the kitchen area of one of the units, and started a fire in the nearby bathroom.

A private cleanup company arrived at the scene this morning to begin cleanup. Anyone with information about this lab should call Baton Rouge Police at (225) 389-3361.
Source- WBRF

Panama City Fla dploys portable jails, on-scene booking for mass arrests www.privateofficer.com

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Florida April 1 2013 – The two holding cells at the Bay County Sheriff’s Office’s mobile booking center in Panama City Beach are simple, rectangular structures with wooden frames, chain-link walls and roofs, and rubber floors with a deliberate slant to clean up after the often highly-intoxicated detainees who wait there for a van to take them to the main Bay County Jail. If not for the L-shaped wooden benches inside, the jail cells would be easy to mistake for dog kennels.
It’s the last thing most students imagined when planning to spend their spring break in Panama City Beach, but for 561 people and counting this March, it’s become a reality. The booking center is located on the east end of Panama City Beach, just off of Thomas Drive, the same street as spring break super clubs Spinnaker and Club La Vela. This is the fourth year the BCSO has operated a temporary booking facility during spring break, and the second year at this location. There’s no water view at the facility which is housed in an unfinished townhouse development that fell victim to the housing bubble, and is now owned by Bay County. The center is open from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. during the peak college spring break season, from March 1 through the first week of April.

It’s logistics Bay County Jail Warden Rick Anglin doesn’t work for UPS, but cited logistics as a primary benefit of the mobile booking center. Law enforcement officers from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, Panama City Beach Police Department and Florida Highway Patrol can drop off detainees at the facility and return to their posts quickly, rather than making the full trip across the bridge to Panama City and the main jail. “It’s definitely an asset,” said Panama City Beach police chief Drew Whitman. “It allows the officer to only be off the street for 15 to 20 minutes. “Our main emphasis during spring break is on officer presence,” Whitman said. “We’d rather be proactive than reactive, and this helps us maintain that presence.” Whitman and Anglin said that before the mobile booking center was created, a trip to the county jail could easily take an officer off the street for two hours or more. “Before an officer had to decide ‘Well, am I going to leave my post for two hours to transport them across the bridge,’” Anglin said. “Now they can at least get someone off the street in about 15 or 20 minutes. “Most of these are relatively minor offenses, and most of this is done more for their protection and the protection of the public out there that they’ll end up doing something to if we don’t get them off the street.” The mobile facility also allows personnel to log into the jail’s computer system and complete much of the logging information before the detainee arrives at the main facility. Anglin said that helps prevent a bottleneck at the county jail, which houses a population of approximately 900 inmates year round.
Generally those booked at the mobile outpost don’t stay there very long. There are two vans used to shuttle as many as 12 detainees per trip to the main jail. Anglin said that during busy times, the vans run constantly. Deputies at the booking center will load up one van while the other is en route.

Medical services Anglin said that approximately one third of those brought to the facility during spring break are not charged with any crime. A Florida statute called the Marchman Act allows law enforcement officers to take into custody anyone who appears intoxicated to the point that they present a danger to themselves or others. Such cases are noted as “detox” in the booking center logs, and are a main reason that an EMT is on the scene at all times while the booking center is open. Anglin said additional medical services are requested usually once or twice every night.
“The first year we would take them and put them on the vans and hold them there until we had three, four, five people ready to be transported,” Anglin said. “A lot of these kids coming in are so intoxicated, some of them are on drugs, there are medical issues going on, so it was a high liability not being able to see them. Not to mention sometimes they would get sick and throw up in the van.” Anglin said that most of those who are facing criminal charges are also highly intoxicated. “Everyone who comes in here could be the next balcony fall, or the next person who drowns in the Gulf, or the next one who steps out into traffic,” he said. “The last thing we want is for something like that to happen. “That’s why we have things set up the way we do, so that even if someone gets highly intoxicated, we have a system in place to get them off the street, get them in a controlled setting for their own protection and get them any medical care they might need.”
Source: AL .com

Second person arrested in murder of U.S. Coast Guard tech www.privateofficer.com

MOBILE, Alabama April 1 2013 – A second person has been arrested in connection with the March 20 fatal shooting of a 31-year-old U.S. Coast Guard member stationed in Mobile. Christopher Anthony Williams, 25, was arrested today in the Atlanta area and is charged with murder in connection to the fatal shooting of Robert “Andrew” A. Roberts.

His arrest comes one day after 25-year-old Shaniah Michele Woods was arrested in the same vicinity and booked on a similar murder charge. Both will be extradited to the Mobile County Jail later today, according to Ashley Rains of the Mobile Police Department.

They are both being held in the Clayton County, Ga., Detention Facility, although no records of Williams’ arrest were available Saturday afternoon. The arrests were made with the assistance of U.S. Marshals. While police continue with their investigation, Rains said no other arrests are likely.

“We believe this is going to be the final arrest,” she said. “The investigation continues up until the day it goes to court.”
The connection between the two suspects and Roberts is unclear, although Rains said Friday that Roberts knew Woods. Roberts was found shot near his clavicle in the parking lot of the Baymont Inn and Suites on West I-65 Service Road South.

He was pronounced dead on the scene around 9:50 p.m. Officials believe Roberts got into a “physical altercation” with the people before the shooting. He was buried in New York on Wednesday. Homicide Detectives will continue the investigation. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Mobile Police Department at 251-208-7211.
Source: AL .com

Ross Bridge Golf and Resort guests victims of carbon monoxide poisoning www.privateofficer.com

HOOVER, Alabama April 1 2013- All fifteen Ross Bridge Golf and Resort guests treated for symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are recovering, and those still hospitalized are expected to be discharged soon, said Hoover fire Executive Officer Rusty Lowe.

Only a few remained for treatment overnight, he said. No other cases have been reported.

“It appears that everything is going to be OK, and everybody is going to be OK,” Lowe said. The guests, both children and adults, were treated at UAB Hospital, Brookwood Medical Center and Baptist Medical Center Princeton on Friday. A

ll were experiencing varying levels of flu-like symptoms, ranging from headaches to nausea. Rescue workers were called to the Hoover resort about 6:30 a.m. on a report of an unconscious woman. By the time they arrived, the woman had regained consciousness but authorities noticed several other family members were experiencing flu-like symptoms. Firefighters found elevated carbon monoxide levels on the resort’s fifth and sixth floors, which were quickly evacuated.

“We’re randomly checking levels throughout the weekend, and the hotel is doing the same thing,” Lowe said. “So far everything is OK.”

Investigations of the heating unit and ventilation system are expected to continue this week. Lowe said authorities found a leak in the duct work from the heater.

The basement heating unit is designed to vent through the roof, but the leak was causing it to be vented to the fifth and sixth floors. The heater will not be turned back on until it is repaired and inspected. “

Most rooms have opened back up, except eight rooms immediately adjacent to the ductwork for the particular heater that was involved,” Lowe said.
Source: AL.com

Woman arrested in murder of U.S. Coast Guard tech www.privateofficer.com

MOBILE, Alabama March 30 2013  – A 25-year-old woman is awaiting extradition in Georgia after members of the U.S. Marshals Service arrested her in the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old U.S. Coast Guard member stationed in Mobile.

Shaniah Michele Woods, 25, was arrested in the Atlanta area, according to Ashley Rains, public information officer for the Mobile Police Department. She will face one count of murder in the shooting death of Robert “Andrew” A. Roberts.

According to booking records, Woods is being held in the Clayton County, Ga., Detention Facility. She was booked into jail at 1:48 p.m. CDT.

Her home address is listed as an apartment in Jonesboro, Ga., nearly 300 miles from the fatal shooting. She is from Georgia, but was visiting Mobile at the time of the shooting, Rains said.

The connection between Woods and Roberts is unclear, although Rains said the two knew each other.

Roberts was found shot near his clavicle in the parking lot of the Baymont Inn and Suites on West I-65 Service Road South on March 20.

Roberts was pronounced dead on the scene around 9:50 p.m. Officials believe Roberts got into a “physical altercation” with people he knew before the shooting.

He was laid to rest in New York on Wednesday.

Homicide detectives are still investigating the case. Anyone with information is asked to call the Mobile Police Department at 251-208-7211.

Source: AL. com

Murder investigated at Mobile Alabama hotel www.privateofficer.com

MOBILE, Alabama -March 22 2013- Authorities are investigating a homicide this morning after a man was found shot to death at the Baymont Inn and Suites Wednesday night.

Around 9:50 p.m., police were called to the hotel at 930 West Interstate 65 Service Road South, according to Ashley Rains, public information officer for the Mobile Police Department.

When officers arrived, they found a 31-year-old man had been shot by “unidentified subjects,” Rains said. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

The victim’s name has not been released pending family notification.

The man’s death marks the fourth Mobile police homicide investigation of the year.

Anyone with information on the shooting can call MPD at 251-208-7211.

Source: AL.com

Seattle man kills wife-asks TV station to post it to Facebook www.privateofficer.com

SEATTLE WA March 15 2013  AP— A man who told a TV newsroom that he had killed his wife and asked the station to post that message on Facebook was arrested Thursday after a high-speed chase, authorities said.

Sara Barrett, 42, was found dead from “homicidal violence” about 6 a.m. Thursday at a Tacoma motel, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.

The discovery came just hours after Tony Barrett, 41, of Puyallup was arrested in the chase that reached 100 mph from Tacoma to Gig Harbor, where police and state troopers stopped his car with spike strips.

“He got out swinging a crowbar” at officers who used a police dog to take him down, Troyer said. He was treated at a hospital for dog bites on the way to jail and held for investigation of murder.

It could not be immediately determined if Tony Barrett has a lawyer.

On Wednesday night, the caller told KOMO, “I just killed my wife … I want you to put it on your Facebook,” the station reported (http://bit.ly/Z1GYVJ ).

Barrett had called the station because he didn’t have a Facebook page and wanted the station to post the message, Troyer said. The caller did not say where the woman could be found.

The assignment desk asked if there was someone they could notify, and the caller said, “No, I’m not going to be here much longer.”

He said he and his wife had been together 28 years.

“It was supposed to be ‘til death do us part, but she wouldn’t,” he said.

The man ended the call when the assignment desk mentioned police.

“Very odd,” Troyer said. “That was a full-blown confession to place on Facebook.”

Concerned for the wife, the station worked with the sheriff’s office. Investigators were able to identify the man, his wife and their cars.

KOMO News Director Holly Gauntt said nothing was posted on Facebook.

“Some of his relatives and friends called us and said they got a message from him to just check out our Facebook page,” Gauntt said. “We hoped to do the right thing … It was more about helping police trying to find her and trying to find him.”

Authorities said Barrett’s car was spotted in Tacoma and he sped away over Tacoma Narrows Bridge, with police and troopers in pursuit until his tires were flattened and he was arrested. He wouldn’t talk to officers about his wife.

The investigation led detectives to the body at the motel, where the couple had checked in Wednesday evening, Troyer said.

“We were hoping to find her” alive, Troyer said. “But obviously it didn’t work that way.”

The couple was estranged and investigators did not know what led to the killing, Troyer said.

Court records show Barrett had attacked his wife in 2007, holding a pillow over her face until she nearly suffocated, the station reported.

The couple’s grown son broke down the bedroom door and stopped the attack. Barrett pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and served a day in jail and two years under supervision by the Department of Corrections.

He was ordered not to have any hostile contact with Sara Barrett for five years. That order expired on Feb. 25.

Gauntt said the incident was spooky and no doubt shocking for the assignment editor who took the call.

“We tend to get a lot of odd calls. She realized this guy was very articulate and serious,” Gauntt said.

The Pierce County sheriff’s office was called right away, she said.

“We didn’t want to do anything to help his cause,” Gauntt said.

Greenville SC security officer kills man during confrontation www.privateofficer.com

GREENVILLE, S.C. March 14 2013—The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a deadly shooting at a motel.

Deputies said they were called to the Savannah Suites on Wade Hampton Boulevard just before 11 p.m. Wednesday about a disturbance in the parking lot.

When they arrived, deputies said they saw a silver Dodge 4-door against the fence with a man, later identified as 28-year-old Ledrekuis Fontex Sloan, dead in the driver’s seat.

The coroner said Sloan died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

At this point, deputies believe that a security guard employed by Savannah Suites responded to a disturbance in the parking lot and fired at least one shot into the car.

Deputies do not know why the security officer used deadly force or what led to the confrontation.

Deputies confirmed there is no arrest in this case, and that they were calling it a homicide investigation.

Sloan’s mother told News 4′s Sean Muserallo her son was the father of a 12-year-old.

Body found in LA hotel water tank may be missing Canadian tourist www.privateofficer.com

LOS ANGELES CA Feb 20 2013 (Reuters) – A body found in a large water tank on top of a downtown Los Angeles hotel on Tuesday may belong to a 21-year-old Canadian woman who went missing under suspicious circumstances while staying there late last month, police said.
Elisa Lam, a student from Vancouver, British Columbia, who was visiting Southern California on her own, was last seen at the Cecil Hotel on January 31. Los Angeles Police detectives had characterized her disappearance as suspicious.
A security video taken in an elevator at the hotel and released by the LAPD last week showed Lam acting strangely, hiding in a corner and repeatedly peering around the elevator doors into the hallway.
A body had been found in one of four large water tanks on top of the Cecil Hotel early on Tuesday after a maintenance worker went up to investigate reports of low water pressure, a Los Angeles police spokeswoman said.
Detectives were on the scene, but had not yet determined whether the remains were those of the missing woman, the spokeswoman said.
Some two dozen firefighters could be seen cutting through one of the four large, cylindrical water tanks under a canopy that shielded them from news helicopters overhead.
Police have said that the reason for Lam’s visit to Los Angeles was unclear, but that her final destination was expected to be Santa Cruz in central California.
She speaks Cantonese as well as English and was known to use public transportation such as trains and buses.

Thieves snatch $2M in jewelry from Four Seasons display case www.privateofficer.com

New York City NY Feb 18 2013 Three slick thieves smashed and grabbed $2 million in bling from a Four Seasons display case just feet from the Midtown hotel’s front desk yesterday — and made a clean getaway, The Post has learned.
The crooks snatched three watches, a necklace, earrings, rings, cuff links and pendants from the Jacob & Co. case at around 2 a.m. and fled in a waiting car on East 57th Street, sources said.
“It was quick. They hit us, smash and grab, gone,” a security worker said. “We certainly didn’t expect to get hit there.”
With an accomplice waiting in the car, the other two men waltzed into the famed hotel and ascended two flights of stairs to get to the ornate lobby surrounded by a dozen windowed cases from an assortment of high-end retailers.
They struck up a conversation with a hotel staffer about the Jacob & Co. case while concealing a sledgehammer, sources said.
When the coast was clear, one of the thugs smashed the glass and they scooped out the jewels. The pair then strolled untouched out the front door.
Their escape was assisted by a shocking amount of faulty surveillance cameras in the Four Seasons lobby.
“Can you believe that most of the cameras in the hotel are not functional?” a source said.
The embarrassing breach, sources say, has hotel security team members fearing the worst.
“Trust me, someone in security is worried about his job,” one source said.
Detectives were poring over video footage taken from the Avakian Boutique jewelry shop steps away from the concierge desk.
E-mails and voice messages left with the hotel and its staff were not immediately returned.
“The [hotel] is trying to keep it hush-hush,” a source said.
Hours after the heist, the hotel’s security detail was spare and staffers stumped.
“The glass broke,” said one worker in the lobby — where the panel that once held the Jacob & Co. jewelry was boarded up with a black fiber wooden block.
“I can’t tell you nothing about nothing,” said a man named Neil, who identified himself as hotel security.
“I haven’t heard of any incidents,” the manager said, before suggesting the wares were all housed by Jacob & Co.’s store across the street. “I’m not aware of anything happening.”
The security snafu was a surprise to one law-enforcement source.
“In the past, their security has been good,” the source said.
A guest of the Four Seasons was taken aback after learning about the theft.
“I’m incredulous,” said Allan Plank, who was in town on business.
Jacob & Co. is owned by “Jacob the Jeweler” Arabov, 47, a jeweler to the stars who is known in rap circles as the “King of Bling.”
He has his share of trouble with the IRS — and served more than two years behind bars in 2008 for misleading feds probing a money-laundering operation by Detroit’s Black Mafia gang.
Nobody was home yesterday at Arabov’s two-story brick house in Forest Hills, Queens, which is currently under a tax lien.
A neighbor said he was out of the country.

Source:ny post

Three Charged In Explosion At Polk Motel In Columbia Tn www,privateofficer.com

COLUMBIA, Tenn. Feb 16 2013 – Three men have been charged after a meth lab explosion inside a room at a Maury County motel.
Adam Arabis, 23, Raymond Stringfellow, 50, and Derrel Pack, 43, were charged with three counts of reckless endangerment, promotion of meth, manufacture of meth and other charges.
Officials said they got reports of the explosion at the Polk Motel on Nashville Highway in Columbia around 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
“We arrived to see smoke, a small bit of flames, occupants coming out of the structure,” said Mark Gandee from the Columbia Fire Department.
Sergeant Jeremy Haywood from the Columbia Police Department said two of the men were injured in the blast, and both were taken to Maury Regional Medical Center for treatment. They were first decontaminated in the hotel parking lot.
“We do just a precautionary decon with soap and water, put tyveck paper suit just to take care of EMS, because they’re in a small confined area,” said Chief Lee Bergeron from the Columbia Police Department.
The other man fled the scene, but was later taken into custody.
The affected portion of the hotel was evacuated while crews investigated.

3 hurt in hotel explosion near SeaWorld www.privateofficer.com

SAN DIEGO CA Jan 31 2013 (AP) — A powerful explosion on Wednesday ripped through a hotel near SeaWorld San Diego from a room where authorities say a couple was extracting hash oil, sending guests fleeing for safety.
A 22-year-old man in the room suffered life-threatening injuries. Also hurt were a woman in the room and a young man staying next door, authorities said. All three were hospitalized.
Julie Jordan of San Diego was sleeping with a friend’s baby in a nearby room at the three-story Heritage Inn Sea World Hotel when she felt the building shake violently, then heard a loud explosion. She ran outside and saw a shattered window and a badly injured man sitting at the bottom of some stairs moaning.
“People were screaming and running, and a man was burned from head to toe,” said Jordan, 30. “His skin was falling off.”

Investigators found several boxes containing canisters of butane inside the room where the blast occurred, police Lt. Joseph Ramos said.
The butane apparently was ignited by a cigarette, Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque said. The second-floor room looked like a “war zone,” he said.
“It was a very intense and devastating explosion,” Luque said.

Hash oil is made by packing finely ground stems and leaves of marijuana plants in a pipe and pouring butane through it, said Amy Roderick, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which is leading the investigation. The liquid typically is then cooked on a stove to separate the butane.
Hash oil averages about 15 percent THC, the chief intoxicant in marijuana, according to the DEA. A drop or two is about as potent as a marijuana cigarette.
The DEA did not confirm that a cigarette ignited the butane or know the size of the drug operation.

“It just looks like a bomb that blew up there,” Roderick said. “It’s hard for us to tell what was going on there.”
The DEA will review the evidence before deciding whether to send the case to the San Diego County district attorney’s office for criminal charges.
Authorities said the couple in the room where the explosion occurred suffered burns, and the man in the neighboring room had bruises, cuts and possible burns.
The badly burned man was in “very, very serious” condition, Luque said. His female companion and the man in the next room — both believed to be around 20 years old — were in moderate condition. Their names were not released.
Joseph Tydingco, 52, rushed out of his room after what felt like a major earthquake and saw black smoke billowing from rooms. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and, with another guest, removed mattresses as they heard people screaming outside.
Tydingco, a SeaWorld maintenance worker, estimated that walls collapsed in six rooms. Police said at least four rooms were destroyed or badly damaged.
The blaze was mostly under control within minutes of the blast, which happened at about 11:15 a.m.
Tydingco said the hotel largely caters to vacationing families on tight budgets and local residents who lack enough cash to sign a rental lease.

New Orleans firefighters battle 4-alarm blaze at InterContinental Hotel www.privateofficer.com

New Orleans LA Jan 7 2013

New Orleans firefighters Saturday evening battled a four-alarm fire at the InterContinental Hotel that originated in a laundry room. All 600 guests — 85 percent of maximum occupancy — at the Central Business District hotel were evacuated.

They were temporarily sheltered at a Hilton Hotel across St. Charles Avenue, said Capt. Edwin Holmes Jr., a spokesman for the New Orleans Fire Department.
No injuries were reported.
The fire at the hotel at 444 St. Charles Ave. began around 6:20 p.m. in a fourth-floor laundry room. A sprinkler system contained the blaze to that floor, but water leaked onto the third floor, Holmes said.

While 90 firefighters from 31 units battled the flames and smoke, hotel guests were provided snacks and drinks in a conference room in the Hilton. Many guests complained that the NFL playoff game they had been watching was interrupted.

We were watching the game in our room and then a voice came over the intercom, saying, ‘There’s a fire, stay calm, everyone needs to get out, take the stairs,’” said Chris Woodard, a tourist visiting from Nashville, Tenn., who was set to depart Sunday on a cruise to Belize. “We grabbed all the necessities — billfold, telephone. I wanted to grab our luggage, but my husband wouldn’t let me.” As guests streamed out of their rooms and into the stairwells, the smell of smoke grew more intense, Woodard said.
Beth and Ken Hough, tourists from Santa Barbara, Calif., said they had been napping in their eighth-floor room before an 8 p.m. reservation at Commander’s Palace. “They’re not gonna let us in now,” Ken Hough said, pointing to his sneakers and jeans. “We’re gonna have to find somewhere more casual to eat.”
Exhausted from a long flight, an Australian family had just arrived at the hotel at the time of the fire. “The taxi driver just dumped the bags on the street, and he says, ‘Oh you will have to make your way across to the hotel,’” said Peter Mumford, 51, of Brisbane, who said he is staying in town for a week with his wife and 14-year-old son.
“It is what it is,” he said, smiling. “Stuff happens.”
The fire was brought under control by 8:30 p.m. The fire and smoke damage was contained to the laundry area, though the lobby and meetings spaces suffered water damage, said Andrew Done, a spokesman for the InterContinental.
While no guest rooms were damaged, the smell of smoke throughout the hotel was too pungent to allow guests back in for more than a few minutes, Done said.
Done said the hotel staff arranged accommodations for all the guests at four nearby hotels: the Hilton, the International House, the Crowne Plaza and the Holiday Inn in the French Quarter. Guests were allowed back into their InterContinental rooms around 10 p.m. to retrieve their luggage.
On Sunday, crews will try to air out the hotel. “It’s too early to tell when people might be able to stay in the rooms again,” Done said.

Source:NOLA.com

1 Man dead-another shot at Dickson TN hotel www.privateofficer.com

DICKSON COUNTY, TN Jan 3 2012 – A man was killed and another was injured in a late-night shooting outside a hotel in Dickson.
Police were called to the Holiday Inn Express off Highway 46, near Interstate 40, around 11:20 p.m. Tuesday.
Police identified the victims as 29-year-old Matthew Draper, and his cousin, 23-year-old Cody Jackson. Jackson drove himself and Draper to the hospital in a personal vehicle, where Draper was pronounced dead.
Jackson was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in stable condition.
Family members told NewsChannel 5 that Draper jumped in front of Jackson to shield him from the gunfire. The men were both from Hartsville.
The shooting happened outside of the hotel, and police said no one had any affiliation with the hotel.
Dickson Police said the shooter had left the scene before police arrived, but they issued a BOLO (Be on the Lookout) for a maroon SUV. They said they have at least one person of interest who they planned to speak to, and are actively following leads.
A motive for the shooting was not immediately known.

Source-newschannel5.com

Hotel employee sexually assaulted www.privateofficer.com

SAN DIEGO CA Dec 28 2012 — A 44-year-old man arrested in an October rape case, then released, has been jailed again, suspected now of sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper, San Diego police said Wednesday.
Christopher Stevens was arrested at the Vagabond Inn in Mission Valley on Monday, hours after crime lab technicians linked him to DNA from both crime scenes, police Lt. Anastasia Smith said.
Stevens was jailed on new charges of attempted murder, forcible rape, assault and false imprisonment.
In the most recent case, a 54-year-old woman had just finished cleaning a vacant room Friday at the Wyndham Garden Hotel on Sports Arena Boulevard when a man confronted her and forced her back inside, Smith said.
The woman fought back as she was beaten and raped, Smith said. Her attacker then left, and the woman called 911 about 1:20 p.m. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Smith said crime lab personnel analyzed DNA evidence in the hotel room and found it matched other DNA from a sexual assault case at Hourglass Field Community Park in Miramar on Oct. 9.
Late that night, a woman was walking through the park and was assaulted by a man she knew, identified as Stevens, Smith said. Stevens was arrested on Oct. 13 and jailed.
The District Attorney’s Office did not file charges against Stevens and he was released, office spokesman Steve Walker said. He said prosecutors are barred legally from filing charges if they aren’t sure the case can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Stevens will be arraigned on Friday, Walker said. He did not say whether Stevens would be charged in both cases.

Hilton Hotel Security agent Stabbed to Death www.privateofficer.com

CINCINNATI OHIO DEC 8 2012— Authorities have identified the hotel security guard who was found dead this morning, and police say he had suffered “an apparent stab wound.”

Police found Richard K. Campbell, 58, dead in a stairwell around 6 a.m. today at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza on Fifth Street.

The hotel management said he had been a security guard there for eight years. In a prepared statement, hotel officials said he died after an apparent altercation of some sort with another person.

“This morning, a member of our security staff was involved in a situation with an unknown person in an emergency staircase in the Carew Tower complex,” reads the statement, written by Michel Sheer, managing director of the hotel. The statement does not describe the circumstances further, referring those questions to Cincinnati police, who have not released them yet.

“Our most sincere condolences go to the officer’s family,” the statement said. “His friends and colleagues here at the hotel are deeply saddened by this senseless loss.”

The hotel, a National Historic Landmark located directly across from Fountain Square, has 238 employees, 561 rooms, three ballrooms and a restaurant, Orchids at Palm Court.

The Hilton remains open, and all events are going on as scheduled today and this weekend, Sheer said.

Nevada fugitive shot-killed himself at California hotel www.privateofficer.com

 

ONTARIO CA Nov 18 2012 – A man wanted out of Nevada apparently shot and killed himself inside an Ontario hotel room Friday afternoon when confronted by police officers, Ontario Police Department officials said.
Ontario authorities were alerted the unidentified man was staying in the Best Western in the 3400 block of E. Shelby Street in Ontario, according to Sgt. Bill Russell of the Ontario Police Department.
When officers approached the hotel around 1:30 p.m., the man, who was wanted for the alleged exploitation of an elderly person, ran into a hotel room and refused to come out, Russell said.
Officers heard a shot and when they entered the room, they found the man suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, Russell confirmed. It appears the man shot himself. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities are still investigating the incident.

Myrtle Beach resort employee charged with theft www.privateofficer.com

 

MYRTLE BEACH SC Nov 12 2012 – A Myrtle Beach woman turned herself in to police early Saturday morning on a warrant charging her with stealing from the hotel she previously worked at in order to support a gambling problem.

Rachel Ribnick Spurlin, 40, was booked into the Myrtle Beach Jail on a felony charge of fraud greater than $2,000 but less than $10,000.

According to the police incident report, Spurlin was a former employee at the Landmark Resorts at 1501 S. Ocean Blvd. in Myrtle Beach. The theft was brought to light after guests began complaining their hotel receipts showed them paying less than the actual amount they had paid in cash.

The resort manager reportedly found that Spurlin had made adjustments to the rates and posted less money, the report stated. That extra money was never dropped with the deposits.

Spurlin allegedly adjusted 45 transactions between Sept. 30 and Oct. 18 and kept approximately $2,687 of the resort’s money.

She was confronted with the allegations, but denied any wrongdoing. A day later, Spurlin admitted to taking the money in order to support her gambling problem, the report stated.

Spurlin was fired prior to her arrest on the warrant.

source-www.myrtlebeachonline.com

Security Deficiencies Result in $1.7M Verdict Against Orlando Area Hilton Embassy Suites www.privateofficer.com

 

Orlando, FL  November 10 2012

An Orange County jury Friday ordered Hilton Embassy Suites, Interstate Management Company, and SecurAmerica to pay a combined $1.7 million dollars in restitution to Troy Anderson, who was shot in 2008 while parking his car at the Hilton Embassy Suites on Jamaican Court, nearInternational Drive according to court documents.

Anderson filed a lawsuit in 2009 for the shooting that occurred on the premises of the Hilton Embassy Suites on September 26, 2008, when he was shot multiple times during a car jacking. He sustained serious and life-threatening injuries as a result. (Troy Anderson v. Hilton Hotels, et al., Case No. 2009-CA-040473-O, Fla. 9th Judicial Cir.).

Anderson’s lawyers, Riley Allen and Simon Wiseman, explained that evidence in the ten day trial, as Allen said, showed “security was present, but spent more time delivering bed items, towels, and bell carts to guests rather than patrolling the exterior of the hotel and serving as a deterrent to crime. The hotel provided a ‘uniformed housekeeper,’ not security. The guests deserve better.”

According to court documents, lights that would have illuminated the area where the crime occurred were burned out and hadn’t been replaced for months. A former Regional Manager, Chuck Klawitter, testified the hotel would “wait until enough lights were burned out to justify getting a ‘hi-lift’ to replace the burned out lights.” Klawitter and two other former SecurAmerica employees, Emmanuel Denau, a former Quality Assurance Supervisor, and Rob Wombolt, a former Operations Manager, testified they brought their security concerns to the attention of the hotel and the security company.

Witnesses testified that the area where hotel personnel instructed Mr. Anderson to park his vehicle was “very dark,” even though it was only 50 or 60 feet from the hotel entrance. According to court records, Crime Scene Investigator (CSI), Gerardo Bloise, Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSO), photographed and documented the scene and his photographs confirmed that a critical floodlight intended to illuminate the area where Mr. Anderson parked was not working on the night he was shot. CSI Bloise confirmed in his testimony the area was “very dark.”

Assistant Hotel General Manager, Victor Vergara, claimed and testified at trial, contrary to the evidence, that all the lights were working and the parking lot lighting was “perfect.”

Court records reveal that jurors also learned that a similar strong-armed robbery had occurred in the parking lot of the Embassy Suites ten days prior. Deputy Lourdes Clayton of the OCSO appeared on the scene of the armed robbery ten days earlier and was on the Hilton Embassy Suites’ property for approximately an hour. The hotel and security company denied knowing she was on the property though in following protocol she would have arrived with lights and sirens on as the call was a Code 3 emergency. She also completed an “incident report,” which is a public record and which was brought out in her testimony at trial where she verified she was on the property for “approximately an hour.” The victim who was robbed at gunpoint, 72-year-old Roger Kraft from Ohio, stayed an additional two nights at the hotel, yet the hotel and security company argued he did not tell anyone about being robbed despite the fact his wallet, cash, and credit cards were stolen. Allen told the jury the assertion was “ridiculous.” Mr. Kraft unfortunately passed away a year and a half ago.

A “daily activity report” for September 26, 2008, introduced into evidence of the courts demonstrated the SecurAmerica guard was delivering “bell carts” and was responding to “guest requests” during the 25 minutes prior to the shooting rather than providing security of any kind. During the three hours prior to the shooting, the security guard spent more time responding to guests’ requests for bell carts, towels, and bed items than providing security and patrolling the exterior of the hotel despite the fact this was a Friday night. The shooting occurred at approximately 11:15 p.m.

In addition to Vergara, the Vice President of SecurAmerica, Warren Bovich, also denied knowledge of the armed robbery ten days prior to the shooting of Mr. Anderson. According to court documents, the former employees, Klawitter, Denau, and Wombolt each testified they brought their concerns about security to Bovich, but Bovich was more “concerned about losing the contract” with Hilton Embassy Suites “than he was about security.” Klawitter had also brought his concerns directly to Vergara after the incident ten days prior, but Vergara, despite the complaints from security guards about performing non security services and the strong-armed robbery ten days prior, did nothing to change the way security was provided at the Hilton Embassy Suites.

The former employees, Klawitter, Denau, and Wombolt, also testified they had seen a “daily activity report” and “incident report” from the robbery incident ten days prior. Vergara and Bovich denied having seen these documents despite the fact both would have been provided copies according to protocol.

“With foreseeability comes responsibility,” Allen said. “It is clear that documents existed concerning the prior crime and it is further clear the documents were destroyed.”

Allen further explained, “This allowed the jury to consider an instruction from the Court regarding destroyed documents and to infer the destroyed documents would have substantiated the armed robbery ten days prior, thus, making the crime against Mr. Anderson foreseeable and demonstrating that action should have been taken by Hilton Embassy Suites to avoid further crimes.”

The “contract” between SecurAmerica and Hilton Embassy Suites called for the security guard to also provide housekeeping and engineering services. They claim it is the “industry standard” in the hotel industry, according to Wiseman. “That standard needs to change,” said Wiseman. “Otherwise, it is nothing more than a façade.”

Allen and Wiseman also uncovered evidence showing the hotel previously retained additional law enforcement personnel and security to protect its property when “expensive cars” were on its property during the “Florida Classic Weekend,” the annual November football game between Bethune Cookman and Florida A&M, but apparently failed to take security measures when it came to protecting its guests.

MKG Hospitality ranked Hilton as the second largest hotel brand in the world at the end of 2011. Interstate Hotel Management’s website claims they are the largest U.S. based hotel management company in the world and SecurAmerica is the 22nd largest security company in America.

Prior to the trial, Troy Anderson offered to settle the case for a reasonable and much lesser amount. The offer was rejected outright by all the defendants. As a result of rejecting the offer to settle, the defendants will now have to pay an additional substantial sum in attorney’s fees that could approach $1 million, plus the costs of the trial.

Riley Allen and Simon Wiseman represented Troy Anderson. Michael Reed, Shelley Leinicke, and Lisset Hanewicz, all of Wicker, Smith, O’Hara, McCoy and Ford, P.A., represented Hilton Embassy Suites, and Steven Adamsky and Noah Bender of Mitrani, Rynor, Adamsky and Toland, P.A., represented SecurAmerica. The collective pre trial offer was $280,000.00. The jury allocated 72 percent of the negligence to Hilton Embassy Suites and 28 percent to SecurAmerica. The defendants denied all responsibility and asked the jury to return defense verdicts for each. For more information, contact Orlando personal injury attorney Riley Allen.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/orlando-shooting/carjacking/prweb10112808.htm

Nashville Renaissance Hotel security nab burglary suspect www.privateofficer.com

Nashville TN Nov 10 2012 Police are investigating whether a convicted burglar arrested Wednesday on charges of breaking into a room at the downtown Renaissance Hotel was involved in 10 other hotel and motel room burglaries since January.

Antoun Brown allegedly entered a room occupied by two women on the 13th floor of the Renaissance Wednesday night, according to the Metro Police Department.

Police said Brown told the women he was looking for an ice machine before leaving. The guests called the front desk, and hotel security found Brown on the fourth floor and held him there until police arrived and took him into custody.

Brown was found carrying seven keycards from several hotels that he claimed he took from a cleaning cart, according to police. He also possessed a knife with a chiseled tip that police said could be used to defeat locking mechanisms.

Charges of aggravated burglary and possession of a burglary tool were filed. Brown’s bond is set at $13,000.

source-tennessean

Charlotte NC man arrested for Weapons of Mass Destruction www.privateofficer.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Nov 4 2012 – A Charlotte man was arrested Friday night and is under investigation after Charlotte-Mecklenburg police found three bottles of gasoline in a hotel room.

Police responded to a call at about 3 a.m. Friday at the Econo Lodge in the 3000 block of

Independence Boulevard, near Bojangles’ Coliseum regarding suspicious circumstances. In a vacant room, they discovered the bottles and called a HazMat team to dispose of them, police said. Hotel guests were evacuated at the time.

Emmanuel Barner, 53, was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction.

 Barner was taken to the Mecklenburg County Jail under $10,000 bond.

Police have not said what use might have been intended for the bottles of gasoline but are still investigating.

Carlsbad man arrested for burglarizing resort www.privateofficer.com

 

CARLSBAD CA Oct 21 2012 — A Carlsbad man accused of burglarizing eight rooms at a Carlsbadresort is due in a Vista courtroom this week, and investigators suspect he might be tied to as many as 30 thefts at the site over the last year.

Perry Allen Korol, 49, is charged with a string of burglaries at the La Costa Resort and Spa stretching from December to September.

Last month, hotel security officers caught him running from one of the rooms, ditching what turned out to be a bag of jewelry, according to court documents.

Carlsbad police Lt. Kelly Cain said the series of similar burglaries led investigators to suspect it was the work of one person or a small group.

“The challenge for the investigators now is to create enough of an evidence trail to tie (Korol) to as many of the burglaries that he is responsible for,” Cain said.

Korol, who remained jailed Friday in lieu of $1 million bail, is also accused of twice leasing rental cars but failing to return them, instead keeping them for months, court documents show.

Deputy District Attorney Aimee McLeod, who is prosecuting the case, declined comment, as did Korol’s defense attorney, Terri Peters.

A spokeswoman with the resort also declined to comment, citing the pending legal proceedings Korol faces.

According to a search warrant affidavit written by Detective Loran Bailey, the hotel was hit by about 30 documented cases of similar burglaries starting last October.

Many of the thefts, Bailey wrote, happened when the victims were out of the room for planned events, and it appeared that the burglar had slipped into the hotel rooms through unlocked patio doors.

But on two occasions, the victims caught the burglar rummaging through their belongings.

According to the affidavit, the hotel installed additional video cameras and started conducting undercover surveillance.

In mid-September, a hotel security officer spotted a man entering one of the rooms empty-handed and then emerging with a plastic bag, Bailey said.

The man ran, tossing the bag as security officers chased and eventually caught him. Inside the bag was jewelry belonging to the woman staying in the room, Bailey said.

The man was Korol, Bailey said.

A search of Korol’s Carlsbad home and a rental car turned up wallets, purses and laptops, according to court documents.

Korol’s preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday.

Source-north county times

Federal agent arrested for pulling gun on hotel security www.privateofficer.com

 

NEW YORK NY Sept 29 2012 — A federal agent assigned to help protect dignitaries at the United Nations General Assembly was arrested Thursday after a run-in at a trendy Times Squarehotel.

Police officers were dispatched at about 6 a.m. to the Paramount Hotel on West 46th Street in response to a 911 call reporting that a drunken guest had pulled a pistol on a security guard. The guard had escorted the man to his room and demanded to see some identification.

Jeff Parke, 33, was arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of menacing in a Manhattan court Thursday and was released without bail. The name of his lawyer was not immediately available.

U.S. Homeland Security officials in Washington said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on assignment in New York had been accused of wrongdoing and placed on leave. They gave no further details.

The agent “had recently finished a temporary assignment assisting the U.S. Secret Service on a security detail during the United Nations General Assembly in New York,” the officials said in a statement. “ICE takes all allegations of employee misconduct very seriously and will respond appropriately based on the investigative findings.”

Opened in 1928, the Paramount was once part of the empire of trendsetting boutique hotelier Ian Schrager. A hotel manager declined comment on Thursday.