Police: Man Scammed $27,000 In Hotel Stays
DENVER (CBS4) - A man racked up more than $27,000 in hotel stays this fall, police allege, by telling the luxurious Denver spots to send the bills to the Denver arts organizations.
Police arrested Ronnie Rae Williams, 54, after they say he stayed dozens of days at the Four Seasons, Hotel Monaco, Hotel Teatro, The Oxford and Springhill Suites. He told the hotels to bill arts organizations like Opera Colorado and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts directly.
Rooms at the Four Seasons run $500 a night or more. There, the bill reached $9,555, mostly for a 10-day stay in September. Police said all his stays were September and October.
"When I dug in and looked at things, I said, 'We don't even have any artists in town. We are not even working on a production at that time,' " Opera Colorado's general director, Greg Carpenter, said.
Police said Williams stayed at Hotel Teatro, across the street from the Four Seasons, bilking $3,997 in charges there.
In that case, the reservations were made in the name of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts by a "Diane Taylor." Charges also included prepaid gift cards.
The life of luxury ended, police said, with Williams' stay at the Hotel Monaco, where he allegedly billed $8,631 in charges.
That hotel called the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and were told no one with Williams' name worked there. Police were called and arrested Williams after he tried to flee on foot.
The hotels, not the DCPA or Opera Colorado, footed the bills.
Williams is charged with multiple counts of theft and defrauding an innkeeper. His bond was set at $5,000.
