• Body found in water tank of Los Angeles hotel is missing tourist

    The body of missing 21-year-old Canadian tourist Elisa Lam was discovered in a water tank atop the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Melissa Pamer and Lolita Lopez, NBCLosAngeles.com

    The body of a woman recovered Tuesday from a water tank on the roof of a downtown Los Angeles hotel is that of 21-year-old Elisa Lam, a Canadian tourist who stayed at the hotel before she disappeared several weeks ago, police officials said late Tuesday.

    At about 10:15 a.m., police were called to the Cecil Hotel. The Los Angeles Fire Department also responded. The body was removed at about 4:30 p.m. after an urban search and rescue team worked to free the remains while trying to maintain evidence, authorities on scene said.

    Hotel guests had reported that the water pressure in the building was low, prompting a maintenance worker to visit tanks on the roof, where the body was found, according to Los Angeles Police Department Officer Sara Fayden.

    For more, visit NBCLosAngeles.com

    Officials were gathered on the hotel's roof at midday, and multiple emergency vehicles were parked in front of the building, including a sedan from the county coroner's officer.

    LAPD homicide detectives had been investigating the disappearance of Lam, a Vancouver, B.C., resident who had stayed at the hotel during a visit to Southern California last month.

    Surveillance video from the hotel had shown Lam in the hotel's elevator on Feb. 1. She seemed to push multiple buttons in the elevator, then stepped in and out and appeared to hide in a corner in what authorities described as "abnormal" behavior.

    Watch: Surveillance Video

    The surveillance video is the last known image of Lam, whose parents said she had called them every day until she disappeared, according to police.

    Lam had stayed at the Cecil Hotel during a visit to LA that began Jan. 26, but when it came time for her to check out, she could not be found. She was last seen Jan. 31.

    LAPD via Reuters

    Elisa Lam of Vancouver, British Columbia, is seen in this undated handout photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department.

    The water tank was about three-quarters full when the body was found, according the Sgt. Rudy Lopez of the LAPD. He said the tank's metal latch could be easily opened but added that access to the hotel's roof is secured with an alarm and lock.

    A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said the agency was investigating the four 4-foot-by-8-foot water tanks to determine whether the hotel's water supply had been contaminated.

    Fire Capt. Jaime Moore said a water sample had shown "no biohazard concerns" and that the hotel's water tanks were not connected.

    Longtime hotel resident Bernard Diaz reported flooding on the fourth floor at about the time Lam disappeared, saying he heard a thump so loud one night he "fell out of bed."

    The building, located near Skid Row, is described on its website as a "beautiful vintage European-style hotel built in the 1920s."

    The single-room-occupancy hotel has an unusual history. "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, who was found guilty of 14 slayings in the 1980s, lived on the 14th floor for several months in 1985. And international serial killer Jack Unterweger is suspected of murdering three prostitutes during the time he lived there in 1991. He killed himself in jail in 1994.

    In 1962, a female occupant jumped out of one the hotel's windows, killing herself and a pedestrian on whom she landed.

  • Brooklyn Nets player questioned after sex assault claim

    By Kelly Bayliss and David Chang, NBC10.com

    Police say a member of the Brooklyn Nets was one of three men taken into custody for questioning after an alleged sexual assault at a Philadelphia hotel.


    Police tell NBC10 that a 21-year-old woman was taken from the Four Seasons Hotel on 18th and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to a local hospital just before 4 a.m. The woman told police she was sexually assaulted by someone inside the hotel, according to investigators.

    Police say Andray Blatche, a 26-year-old power forward/center on the Brooklyn Nets, was in the hotel suite at the time of the alleged incident but was not in the bedroom where it may have occurred. The Nets are scheduled to play the 76ers tonight at 7 p.m.

    More coverage from NBC10.com

    Blatche, a 41-year-old man, and a 25-year-old man were all taken into custody for questioning, according to investigators. 

    NBC10 spoke to Blatche about the incident. Blatche claimed he didn't know what we were talking about. He also tweeted the following:

    I'm ok and I didn't do anything. Just was in the area when it happened.

     The Brooklyn Nets released the following statement in regards to the incident:

    We are aware of the ongoing police investigation regarding a member of the Brooklyn Nets.  We will have no further comment until the investigation has concluded. All of our players are available for tonight's game.

    No one has been charged in the incident. Police continue to investigate.

  • Report: Female Las Vegas blackjack dealer stabs another

    By Melissa Pamer, NBCLosAngeles.com

    An alleged fight between two female blackjack dealers at the Bellagio hotel-casino in Las Vegas sent one of the women to the hospital and the other to jail.

    NBC Las Vegas affiliate KSNV reported that the Friday night incident landed 50-year-old Brenda Stokes behind bars after an unnamed victim was left with deep cuts to her face.

    The reported altercation took place in one of the high-profile luxury casino's pits, a spokeswoman for the Bellagio told the station.

    It was the second violent incident inside a Las Vegas Strip casino in recent days. Last week, an Illinois man shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and then himself in the lobby of the Excalibur resort. The woman was an employee of the resort.

    Read more at NBCLosAngeles.com

    Stokes was charged with burglary, two counts of battery with a deadly weapon and mayhem, according to Clark County online inmate records. She was due in court Dec. 26.

    Stokes allegedly had an "edged blade," a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

    The victim's condition was unknown, and police could not confirm whether the two dealers were working at the time.

     

  • Man dies after fall down hotel smokestack

    NBCChicago.com

    Nicholas Wieme (inset) died from injuries sustained in a fall down a smokestack at the top of the Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago.

    By Lauren Petty and Michelle Relerford, NBC Chicago

    A man died Thursday morning after falling 22 feet down a smokestack at the top of the Intercontinental Hotel on Chicago's Michigan Avenue.


    The man, identified as 23-year-old Nicholas Wieme of Chicago, was pronounced dead from injuries sustained in the fall.

    Firefighters said it appears the man went onto the roof of the hotel on the 500 block of Michigan Avenue to take photos. He apparently climbed a ladder along a smokestack to the top and was up there when he fell into the chimney around 1 a.m.

    The man became wedged in an elbow of the shaft, very close to the drop to the basement. After the fall, he was able to either text or call his girlfriend for help.

    "We had to cut a hole in the duct work and then slide him down the duct work," said Chief Michael Fox, chief of special operations for the Chicago Fire Department. "It turned very precarious because two feet after we made the hole was a drop that would have went 42 floors to the basement." 

    Thirty firefighter companies were called and more than 100 firefighters assisted in the rescue.

    "We had to send crews from the top down on ropes to access his condition meanwhile monitoring the situation for toxic gases," Fox said.

    Firefighters said for a short time the man was able to speak with them before he lost consciousness. "We figured he lost consciousness because he wasn't communicating with us anymore," Fox said.

    Firefighters rescued the man and rushed him in critical condition to Northwestern Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

    The hotel issued a statement after the incident, noting it "holds the safety, comfort and well-being of our guests and employees as our top priority and concern."

    "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the guest at this difficult time. The hotel staff will continue to cooperate fully with authorities in their investigation."

  • Report: Homeless man scammed luxury hotel stays at others' expense

    By msnbc.com staff

    A homeless man is accused by police of living the high life in hotels, racking up thousands of dollars on other people’s credit cards, according to a report in Florida.

    Drifter David Price was arrested on Friday and is being held at the Orange County Jail in Orlando, according to WTFV.

    The station said Price would apparently watch hotel guests leave their rooms before slipping inside and claiming to be the guest, calling the front desk and extending the stay, sometimes by 10 days.

    Despite being homeless for two years, he had managed to stay at others’ expense in top hotels including The Ritz Carlton, Hard Rock Hotel and Loews Portofino Bay. 

    At the latter, Price allegedly racked up nearly $9,000 in charges on the credit card of Ohio man Joseph Barak, WFTV said.

     “I don’t know how he got in my room, how he got my debit card.  But he got like the best wines, the best restaurants, room service.  He got clothes and the whole ball of wax,” said Barak, was later able to get his money back.

    Police reports indicate that investigators at Walt Disney World have also looked into possible fraud by Price, the station said.

    The report could not immediately be confirmed with local police.

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

  • Police: Two TSA agents held after drunken rampage in Miami hotel

    View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.

    By NBCMiami.com

    A pair of South Florida TSA agents face criminal charges after police say they went on a drunken rampage inside a Miami Beach hotel room, throwing furniture out a window and wildly firing a gun, NBCMiami.com reported.


    Jeffrey Piccolella, 27, and Nicholas Puccio, 25, are both charged with criminal mischief and using a firearm under the influence of alcohol or drugs in the Tuesday night incident at the Shelby Hotel, according to a Miami Beach police report obtained by NBCMiami.com.

    Officers called to the hotel around 11 p.m. after reports of a gun being discharged from a second-floor room took the two agents into custody without incident, the report said. Each had a strong breath odor of alcohol and bloodshot and watery eyes, the report said.

    See the original story, video at NBCMiami.com

    On the ground outside the hotel room, officers found a radio, speakers, two lamps, a phone, an ice chest, a shattered vase and a bullet casing, the report said.

    Piccolella admitted that the pair had returned to the room after having several drinks and started throwing the items out the window, the report said.

    Piccolella said he had fired the gun out the window once, handed it to Puccio, who also fired once, and then got the gun back and fired three more times, according to the report.

    One bullet struck a $1,500 hurricane-proof window at the Barneys New York at 832 Collins Ave., the report said. The hotel items were worth $400, it said.

    Puccio denied any involvement in the incident, the report said.

    The Transportation Safety Administration said both are part-time employees at Palm Beach International Airport and were not traveling on official business.

    "TSA holds its employees to the highest professional and ethical standards. We will review the facts and take appropriate action as necessary," the TSA said in a statement obtained by NBCMiami.com.

    Both Piccolella, of West Palm Beach, and Puccio, of Delray Beach, were being held on $5,500 bond, NBC Miami said.

    Elvuyra Perez Gallego, visiting Miami from Spain for the first time, told NBCMiami.com she was scared when she came back to the hotel from a late night out and saw police blocking the street surrounding her hotel.

    She said she has sat on the hotel patio many times this week to use her computer and socialize, and she doesn't like thinking about what could happen with a stray bullet.

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News: