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One of the four suspects arrested last week at a Denver hotel near a Major League Baseball stadium slated to host this week’s All-Star Game asked to extend his stay and move to a room with a balcony before he was found with multiple weapons, police documents said.
The four were arrested Friday after a maid at The Maven Hotel saw firearms and gun components inside a room and notified a supervisor, authorities said. The hotel sits near Coors Field, which will host Tuesday night’s annual All-Star Game after the event was relocated from Atlanta earlier this year over Georgia’s voting rights law.
Hotel employees looked up the vehicle associated with the renter of the room and found a Mercedes with an Idaho license plate. A ballistic vest and duty belt were visible from the outside, according to a police probable cause statement.
Managers said the person who rented one of the rooms, Ricardo Rodriguez, requested to extend his stay by several days and asked to be moved to a room with a balcony overlooking an alleyway, police said.
A vehicle stands in the loading zone outside the Maven Hotel Sunday, July 11, 2021, in lower downtown Denver. Authorities said four people have been arrested on drug and weapons charges after a "report of a suspicious occurrence" at the downtown Denver hotel, which is located near Coors Field, the site of Major League Baseball’s 2021 All-Star Game. Denver police said officers responding to a tip searched two rooms at the hotel on Friday night. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“It should be noted that this information was concerning to officers due to the location of the rifle, ballistic vest, duty belt and requesting a room with a balcony coupled with the fact that the 2021 Major League Baseball All-star Game events happening in the immediate area of the hotel,” the police statement said. “There is a propensity for mass casualty incidents in scenarios such as the above, where many people are gathered together in a small area for a single event.”
Denver police initially feared a “Las Vegas-style” shooting was in the works, referring to the 2017 mass shooting that left 60 concertgoers dead near a Vegas hotel.
The suspects were identified as Rodriguez, 44; Richard Platt, 42; and Gabriel Rodriguez, 48. They were taken into custody as part of an investigation into allegations of possession of a weapon by a previous offender, police said. Kanoelehua Serikawa, 43, is being investigated on possible charges of possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute.
Authorities said Ricardo Rodrguez was the ringleader of the group.
Gabriel Rodriguez, Platt and Serikawa were given $50,000 cash-only bonds. Ricardo Rodriguez was given a $75,000 cash-only bond.
“The specific allegations… are highly, highly concerning to this court,” Denver County Court Judge Tanja Wheeler said, the Denver Post reported. “The presence of a high, high number of weapons and ammunition and in a heavily populated part of the city, in particular.”
On Sunday, the FBI said there was no indication the four posed a threat or were connected with terrorism. However, a search of their rooms yielded multiple firearms and drugs, police said.
Gabriel Rodriguez, 48; Ricardo Rodriguez, 44; Richard Platt, 42; and 43-year-old Kanoelehua Serikawa. The four were arrested Friday after a maid inside a hotel near Coors Field spotted firearms and gun components inside a one of their rooms.
During surveillance of the hotel, officers saw Gabriel Rodriguez with a backpack that contained a loaded semi-automatic handgun with a destroyed serial number, heroin, methamphetamine and $1,120 in cash, according to his arrest affidavit.
Platt was taken into custody as he was walking toward the hotel basement. He was found to have an outstanding warrant. His remarks to officers were redacted.
While waiting for a search warrant, police ordered Kanoelehua Serikawa out of her room and arrested her. Inside the room Platt and Serikawa had access to police discovered what they say was a large amount of ecstasy pills as well as heroin. There was also a large amount of cash and 12 guns.
In a jailhouse interview with CBS Denver, Ricardo Rodriguez said he was not aware of any plans for a mass shooting and that he and the other suspects intended to trade and sell guns in the hotel rooms. He said he designs guns and then donates them to military veterans.
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