PTravel

I agree with you, but . . .

When hotels have that problem, it's chronic. If it was an outsider, it's hard to believe this was the first time. If a hotel knows it has a problem, it needs to take steps to address it, whether it's the installation of cameras, locks on all building entrances, increased walk-throughs by security, etc.


I said this, too, but it's so important I'm quoting it again.

Dianne47

I do believe that I would want some publicity about this particular hotel in Orlando, if I were the lady this happened to. Hmm, bad English and ending a sentence with a preposition, get the grammar cops...

Since the OP is an attorney, h/she might know if this is a good idea. After making a belated police report and enquiring about other similar incidents in major Orlando hotels, I would contact the local newspaper. The hotel's failure to properly address the initial complaint is shocking.

22wingit

Even without an alarm, a rubber doorstop with teeth on the bottom (for carpet) will ensure that this can't happen. I've got one salted away in every bag I own. I've considered the alarmed one, but since most of the time these incidents are just bad key coding, it seems like overkill.

I've stayed at the Orlando HR; it has some of the longest corridors I've ever seen, and the secondary corridors are arranged in a spoke pattern of sorts. It would be extremely difficult for security to quickly chase anyone down on the guest floors. It also has a tendency to be very short-staffed in the wee hours of the morning -- I've had it take 90 minutes to check in at 2 am, even with a LF membership.

VideoPaul

Glaser Safety Slugs...The last word in ANY argument.

--PP

FWAAA

It's been a long time since I stayed in an expensive hotel that did *not* have a deadbold AND a chain or solid door guard (like one of these: http://d-rhine.en.alibaba.com/produc...oor_Guard.html ). In fact, the Hard Rock Orlando's room doors are so equipped.

My advice is for the friend to always ensure that her hotel door is latched, throw the deadbolt and secure the door with the door guard. Doing so would have probably prevented this intruder.

Failing that (or if the intruder is able to defeat those safeguards): Shoot to kill and then call 911 (not the hotel desk).

Old NFO

Sorry VP, but they don't work through heavy coats etc. Saw a perp get hit three times COM with Glasers while wearing the normal stuff plus a stiff leather coat- it looked like he had been hit with BB's, not a single skin penetration. However, the responding officer popped him twice with Speer Gold Dots and they worked. I prefer a HP year round.

Sosiouxme

So my friend called the Orlando Police Department. The representative from the OPD said that they would not do a report as no crime was committed. The OPD's position was that if the hotel security deemed the intrusion an "accident" - then it must have been an accident - no harm, no foul.

When my friend told the police operator that the intruder was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood on, the operator said that was common fashion and it was likely that the intruder had come back to the hotel late and in a drunken state and likely just stumbled into the wrong room.

I'm not buying it - and neither is she.

My friend also told me that when she was talking to hotel security shortly after the incident occurred and they were downplaying it, she suggested that they ought to call the police to look for the intruder. The hotel security told her this was not necessary - that they would take care of it.

We can all play Monday morning quarterback. Should she have deadbolted the door - yes. Should she have immediately called 911 when it first happened - yes. But my question now is what are next steps she should take?

I'm pretty shocked by the attitude the hotel staff took. I would have thought that the GM would have contacted her at some point after the incident and asked if she was okay and if there was anything he/she could do that hadn't been done.

Okay Flyertalkers, now what?

--Sioux

Gargoyle

Orlando is a tourist town. This sort of crime report is bad for business. Maybe everyone wants it to just be ignored.

Any way to get media coverage?

PTravel

I don't think there's much she can do.

A letter to the corporate offices of the hotel is certainly in order. If it comes from you, as a lawyer, it will certainly get a lot of attention. I think identifying the name of the hotel and its location here is appropriate (if FT rules permit it, of course), and possibly a call to local news media might be in order (and, as a lawyer, you can help your friend avoid potential trade libel liability).

As you know, there is no legal basis for suit beyond, perhaps, breach of contract; damages would be limited to the cost of the room. Emotional distress wasn't intentionally inflicted, nor does your friend have a resulting medical condition that would support recovery for negligent infliction.

I'm very sorry for what she went through, but I don't think there's much she can do, either to receive compensation or ensure that this doesn't happen to anyone else.

TierFlyer

All good stuff. I chose 380 because the guns fit in a womans hand very well, the recoil is very managable, and a lightly loaded round won't go through hotel (or any) walls. Plus they're *mostly* DA which solves a lot of the problems around carry.

As for two rounds versus more: When in doubt, empty the clip then throw the gun at 'em. (Plus, as noted, lower powered and/or fragmenting rounds do not always get through heavy clothes. I carry +P Hornady and FMJ rounds, alternating, in my Cougar just in case.)

In FL (as in TX and other states) you don't have to explain during a home or car invastion, you just look 'em in the eye and say: He needed shootin.

dgolding

Bingo. Don't call the front desk. Call 911. Unless you are at someplace like the Four Seasons with serious hotel security, you'll get more joy from calling the cops directly.

As far as what she should do now? Nothing. I can't say I'm surprised this was Orlando - not a place known for top-flight policing.

peachfront

Hotels in tourist towns and police in tourist towns get their money from tourists. A high crime rate scares tourists. They have incentive to lie.

At some point, there needs to be financial punishment for entities that cover up the true crime rate.

As far as the person who posted that the intruder was likely a burglar, not a rapist, I thought statistics showed that there's no bright white line between a burglar and a rapist. Quite often, they are the same individual. A person who thinks it a good idea to break into people's bedrooms is not a person with much in the way of self-control. This is why women are permitted to shoot home invaders, if they can't get away from them, in the first place -- because it is very real that life and health are at stake, not just some TVs and jewelry.

I see little chance of this person ever being apprehended as long as hotel and police continue to deny he exists.

My vote is that if you can help your friend litigate against the hotel, I think you'd be doing a good deed and maybe one day you would both even get a little money out of it. It could also help alleviate your friend's feeling of helplessness. You may not be able to do this, depending on where you are licensed to practice, but if you can help out, I'm thinking it could be a nice thing to do.


My friend won a large settlement against a resort in Vegas where he was detained and assaulted. At first LVPD did not take the report. Same situation as Orlando. It's a tourist town. My friend's attorney went back several weeks later and personally filed the police report. In Las Vegas it is not true that the police can refuse to file a report, but they are allowed to tell people that. Maybe this is also the case in Orlando? The attorney was also able to compel the resort to produce videotape of the incident, even though they originally claimed there was no videotape.

I'm not shocked at all that the hotel staff is pretending that nothing ever happened. I'm afraid I expect nothing different. Cynical me.

You know what now. We have courts for a reason. Sometimes the only way to make a positive change is litigation.

PTravel

Hmmm. My pistol holds 7 rounds, as does my shotgun. I always tell my wife that, if she has to use it, empty five rounds but keep two in reserve in case the target isn't sufficiently discouraged.

Superguy

A cop I used to work with in the school system recommended a shotgun for home protection as you didn't have to worry as much about accuracy and most people weren't trained for precision in those situations.

Unfortunately, some states limit how many shells you can put in a gun. My home state, PA, limited shotguns to 3 shells ... had to have a plug in there if it could hold more. Dont know if that was just for hunting or not.

Telfes

Great, so the police are complicit. Wonder just how many attempted or actual rapes or burglaries they've helped local hotels cover up.

As an attorney, you're better than I to determine if legal action is appropriate, but by golly I'd give the media a try. They're probably sleeping with the tourist dollars, too, but maybe somehow they'll want scoop.