Couple sues NYC hotel after being robbed by armed men they thought were delivering Uber Eats
A young couple was robbed at gunpoint inside their Queens hotel room by men they thought were delivering an Uber Eats order, according to a new lawsuit blaming the hotel for negligent security.
The man and woman, both 26, were staying at the Boro Hotel in Long Island City after visiting with friends on Jan. 2, 2021 when the traumatizing incident went down, according to their Brooklyn Supreme Court lawsuit from Friday.
“It was pretty scary,” said the man, who, along with his girlfriend is suing anonymously due to embarrassment over the incident and for their safety.
“I went to open the door to get the food [and] two guys busted in and put a gun to my head,” he told The Post. “I was not wearing any clothes.”
The boyfriend, who is from New York, explained he’d ordered a cake from a local bakery on Uber Eats, but fell asleep before it arrived around midnight.
He heard a knock on the hotel room door and believed it was someone bringing their delivery order, according to their lawsuit.
Instead, two brutes pushed their way into the room and one of them put a gun to the man’s head while the other ripped the sheet off of the woman lying in bed and tied her legs together with the bedding, the filing alleges
The gunmen made the boyfriend lay face down on the floor as he remained “butt-naked” — with one of them holding a firearm to the back of his head and ripping the necklace he wore from his body, he recounted.
His girlfriend awoke to the terrifying scene, before the second gunman approached her, she said.
“I woke up processing everything and freaking out,” said the woman, who is from Connecticut.
The robbers made off with wallets, jewelry and sneakers, according to the lawsuit.
After the crooks left, “We waited a couple minutes, nervous to leave. We got on our clothes and ran downstairs to the lobby screaming,” the woman said.
Hotel workers, including a security guard, called the police — but otherwise it looked like they “didn’t take it seriously,” the boyfriend said.
Cops came to the hotel and said they could only find surveillance footage of the assailants leaving but not any video of them entering the building, the suit claims.
The hotel’s security was lacking and the robbers should never have been allowed up to the couple’s room, the suit charges.
The hotel “failed to exercise reasonable care to protect the plaintiffs on its property and/or otherwise control the conduct of third persons … on their premises,” the court papers state.
The man and his girlfriend were traumatized and now experience nightmares, heart-racing and sweating, according to the filing.
While the couple have stayed at other hotels since, they still have residual fears — including repeatedly checking that doors are locked, the boyfriend said.
“It took some time to adjust,” he said.
“We like to take trips and like to go places,” the girlfriend said. “I was a little scared to go to a hotel after that.”
She added that she “regularly” wakes up to nightmares of the incident.
“That was my first time having a gun close to me,” she said.
After, the hotel merely offered them a free stay at the hotel.
“That’s not going to happen,” the girlfriend said of going back to the establishment.
“There needs to be measures put into place to makes sure this doesn’t happen again,” she said.
The couple’s lawyer Mark Shirian said that they don’t believe the police ever caught the assailants.
The NYPD confirmed no arrests have been made in the case, and said the perps weren’t able to be identified.
“The victims entrusted their safety and well-being to Boro Hotel, expecting a secure and protected environment during their stay,” Shirian said.
“Regrettably, the hotel failed to fulfill its duty of care and maintain adequate security measures to prevent criminal activities on its premises,” Shirian said. “This failure directly resulted in our clients becoming targets of a heinous act, causing significant emotional distress, physical harm, and financial losses.”
They are suing for unspecified damages.
A hotel spokesperson said, “This claim is without merit.”
“We fully cooperated with law enforcement in their 2021 investigation,” the statement continued. “The circumstances giving rise to the alleged robbery are highly suspicious.”
“Safety is our absolute top priority, and this type of incident has not occurred in our seven years of operation. We look forward to having this frivolous suit dismissed.”
Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy
