This is a very strange story on several levels…
Rolex stolen off sleeping man’s wrist in hotel lobby
A man named Armin Zeyafatzadeh claims to have been robbed of a $24,000 Rolex while sleeping in the lobby of the Residence Inn & Courtyard by Marriott in Washington DC (this is one of those properties that has two hotel brands in one).
The man arrived at the hotel at 1AM, but only had a booking for later that day. The hotel didn’t let him check-in, so he settled down in the lobby to wait until his room was ready. Zeyafatzadeh claims that he hadn’t slept in 48 hours, so he decided to sleep in the lobby. The lobby was quiet, so he felt like that was safe. By 3AM he was sound asleep, with his head tilted back and mouth wide open.
As it turns out, there had been someone else in the lobby not far away, who was keeping an eye on him. Noticing that Zeyafatzadeh was sound asleep, the guy inched closer to him, and eventually noticed the fancy watch. He then used both hands to lift Zeyafatzadeh’s wrist and unbuckle the watch. With the watch eventually in the robber’s possession, he made an exit.
When Zeyafatzadeh woke up, he noticed that the watch, which he allegedly wore every day for the past two years, was missing. He alerted the hotel staff, and they agreed to look through security camera footage with him. They saw the point where the watch was stolen, so he went and filed a police report.
The man who stole the watch was allegedly staying at the hotel, but was long gone by the time everyone figured out what was going on. Zeyafatzadeh has filed a report with the hotel, but claims that no one got in touch with him yet.
Below is the video footage of the watch being stolen… wow.
What a story…
Where do we even begin with this story? First and foremost, I hope they find the jerk who stole the watch. What a terrible thing to do. You’d think they’d be able to figure out who did this pretty easily, given that it was all captured on video, and the man was allegedly a guest at the hotel.
Beyond that, though, there’s a lot else interesting about the story. Showing up at 1AM for a reservation later that day isn’t requesting early check-in, it’s asking for a free night. That request is completely unreasonable, and virtually no hotel would accommodate that, regardless of whether or not rooms were open.
It seems like a very bad life decision to show up at a hotel without a reservation when you haven’t slept for 48 hours. Especially if you have the means to, which you’d think someone who drops $24K on a watch would have (“you’d think” being the operative term here).
As far as the watch robbery goes, I’m amazed by how easily this was done. I can’t believe the guy didn’t wake up when his arm was moved so much, but I guess some people are deep sleepers.
Lastly, I’m no lawyer or liability expert, but I’m almost kind of surprised that the hotel would have any liability here, even if it’s just on a technicality. When this watch was stolen, the guy was not a hotel guest, plain and simple. He was a non-guest choosing to sleep in the lobby.
Does the hotel have liability for anything that’s stolen on property, even if it’s a non-customer? Or does the fact that he had a reservation for later that day make the hotel liable?
Bottom line
A Rolex was stolen off the wrist of a man sleeping in the lobby of a Marriott property in Washington DC. The guest showed up at 1AM but didn’t have a reservation until later that day, so he decided to sleep in the lobby. Someone was obviously closely watching him, and managed to slip the watch off his wrist. Security footage later revealed what happened, though at that point the robber was long gone.
What do you make of this all-around very strange story?
(Tip of the hat to View from the Wing, featured image courtesy of the hotel)
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