SAN DIMAS, Calif. (AP) - A man was arrested after intentionally crashing his large SUV through the wall of a Los Angeles County hotel where his family was staying, authorities said.
Richard Melendez was drinking and became irate when his mother refused to let him into her room at Extended Stay America in San Dimas early Friday, Sheriff’s Lt. Andy Berg said.
While the suspect’s mother spoke with a deputy in a hallway, Melenedez got into his Hummer and repeatedly rammed it into the exterior wall of her room, Berg said. After several tries, the SUV smashed through the faux-stone facade and ended up halfway in the room. There were no injuries to people in the hotel.
Mark Kuszewski was asleep in the hotel when he heard several loud crashes shortly after 1 a.m. He went outside and saw the SUV sticking out of the wall and deputies with stun guns trying to pull the driver out of the vehicle.
“He still kept trying to drive the car. He kept trying to go forward, go forward, and they kept telling him to stop, to stop,” Kuszewski told KABC-TV. “They had their Tasers out.”
Melendez, 28, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation.
Melendez’s wife and four young children were in a separate room.
Bail was set at $30,000. Melendez, a Bell Gardens resident, didn’t yet have a lawyer, Berg said early Friday.
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