A horrible incident unfolded at a hotel on West 24th Street: According to the Post, a bartender at the Wyndham Hotel allegedly tried to rape a hotel guest in her room, after obtaining a key card to her room. Manuel Gomez-Rodriguez, who is free on $5,000 bail, was charged with attempted rape, sexual abuse and burglary.
Police say that Gomez-Rodriguez, 30, met the 27-year-old guest at the hotel's bar, San Rocco last Friday (Gomez-Rodriguez works there, but was off then). The pair went to another bar, but then the woman went back to her room. The Post reports that after he got his hands on a key card, "The suspect pounced on the sleeping woman, pinned her to the bed and tried to rape her, according to a criminal complaint. As the terrified woman struggled, the suspect allegedly molested her and kissed her neck, the complaint states. But she managed to turn the tables on Gomez-Rodriguez, knocking him off the bed, sources said. She then shoved him out of the room, slammed the door shut and bolted it, the sources said."
With Gomez-Rodriguez pounding on the door outside, the woman was able to call the police, who arrested him. Neighbors were upset about the news, with one saying, "I'm shocked. It's a terrible thing. I have a daughter and I'm scared for her safety... My sense is that we are more disassociated now and people feel detached from another. In this neighborhood, there's no one out on a stoop watching over the community."
