Only on 9: Woman says man entered hotel room, tied her up and robbed her

A woman told Channel 9 a man forced his way into her University City hotel room, tied her up, and robbed her two days before Christmas.

“I’m just very paranoid. I have a lot of anxiety,” she said.

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The woman, who didn’t want to share her name, drove from South Carolina to Charlotte to finish up holiday shopping on Dec. 23. She was staying at the Hilton Charlotte University Place.

She told Channel 9‘s Hunter Sáenz she’s still terrified by the experience. She had only been at the hotel for about an hour and a half before it happened.

The woman said she checked in, went up to her room and got settled in. She had dinner and was taking a shower when the fire alarms went off. She said when she asked about it, someone at the front desk told her she didn’t need to evacuate.

While on the phone, the woman said she also asked for a blanket. Later, she dozed off, but was later awakened by a man knocking on her door. He claimed to be room service.

“I should have looked outside. I didn’t,” she said. “And I opened up the door and somebody just put something over my head and started choking me, like smothering my face and stuff.”

She said the man shoved her into the room, took the blanket off her head, duct taped her mouth shut and her wrists together, and threatened to kill her if she didn’t calm down. She said he turned the television up, ran water into the sink, and ran the shower.

“I said, ‘I have two boys, please don’t hurt me ‘cause I’m all that they have,’” she told Sáenz.

She said the man tried to get personal information from her, including her phone password, and tried to get her to transfer money.

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The woman said he then smashed the television, threw the hotel phone into the bathtub full of water, and stole her purse, phone, and other items before taking off. She locked the door, managed to get untied, found her work computer, and started chatting with the Hilton online.

“I’m such and such and such room, this is my name, I’ve been robbed, please send help,” she said.

She said it was an hour and 15 minutes before help arrived.

“I felt like there wasn’t a sense of urgency on the staff’s part,” she told Sáenz.

Now, she’s traumatized and seeking help while hoping the suspect is caught.

“Just real paranoid, real nervous,” she said.

She said the suspect, while threatening to kill her, kept reciting her address, which he had learned from taking her driver’s license.

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The woman also told Sáenz she recognized the suspect. She said she had a suspicious run-in with him at her car when she was unloading her bags. Now, she feels like he was scoping things out.

She also wants answers from the hotel. Sáenz spent Thursday reaching out to management there but so far, nobody has called back.

She described the suspect as a light-skinned man in his late 20s or early 30s. She said he was slim and about 5 feet, 11 inches tall. She said he was wearing a rosary necklace and three rosary bracelets, and a black watch with a gold face. She said he was wearing gloves at first but she bit him, so he took them off to reveal a rosary tattoo on his hand.

As Charlotte-Mecklenburg police investigate the case, they’re asking anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or by clicking here.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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