Motel Housekeeper Attacked in Gaithersburg Hotel Room

At Clark and Steinhorn, we see a wide variety of cases involving assaults upon members of the public, when they are on the premises of others. These so-called "premises liability" or "inadequate security" cases seem to occur at malls, hotels,
and apartment complexes and often involve sexual assault.

It appears that some criminals prey upon patrons of these places, seeking out gaps in the security systems. Not suprisingly, the businesses involved do not want to publicize these attacks, for fear of scaring away customers.

This creates a dilemma, should the businesses where the attacks take place warn their patrons to be on their guard or increase their security measures?

The answer is frequently neither. Warnings run the risk of frightening potential customers and bolstering security increases costs. Either way, businesses are loath to effect their bottom-line, even if they are aware of dangerous criminal activity on or near their premises.

On Thursday October 30th, 2009 a housekeeper at a Motel 6 in Gaithersburg, Maryland was attacked and raped in a room she was cleaning. The victim did provide a description of her attacker and his vehicle to Montgomery County Police.

For more see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/29/AR2009102903893.html