By Morgan Loew, Cody Lillich and Jordan Gartner
Published: Apr. 25, 2024 at 6:04 PM EDT|Updated: 14 hours ago
PHOENIX (KPHO/Gray News) - A hotel guest says he is still recovering after being attacked by a security guard almost two years ago.
Phoenix authorities said the security guard involved has since been arrested and booked into jail in connection with the attack.
And the security video was the key.
Police said they had heard conflicting stories of what happened that day at the Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix on May 29, 2022.
At least ten officers responded to the call regarding someone being stabbed in an altercation between a hotel guest and a security guard.
KPHO reports that its investigative team viewed police bodycam video and security footage from the hotel.
The confrontation occurred in a hallway near the hotel pool. A woman in a towel, a man in a bathing suit and a security guard can be seen talking in the video, but the guard appears agitated.
There is no audio in the recording, but the guard’s arms are seen moving up and down while pointing to the man in the bathing suit.
Seconds later, the security guard strikes the man in the face, and the struggle begins.
Over the next 60 seconds, the video shows the man in the bathing suit fighting back. The guard picks him up and body slams the man onto the ground.
The woman opens the door to the pool and appears to call for help.
At some point, when the two men are struggling on the ground, the security guard pulls a knife out from his shorts and begins stabbing the man in the face, shoulder, back, arms, and chest.
Other guests appear in the doorway and pull the guard off the man.
Authorities said the man, later identified as Jesus Ravelo, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
According to Ravelo, it was supposed to be a fun weekend getaway for him and his girlfriend, Andrea Solorzano. It was her birthday, and she had just graduated from college.
Ravelo said the couple had a tradition of traveling to see the Los Angeles Dodgers, their home team.
But that weekend, the Dodgers were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks in downtown Phoenix.
“We packed our bags and we decided to go out to Arizona,” he said.
One of the factors that drew the couple to the Palomar was the fact that it has a rooftop pool with a bar. At that time, it was called Lustre.
On the day of the incident, Ravelo and Solorzano said they grabbed two seltzer drinks from their room and headed to the pool. When they arrived, they said a security guard confronted them.
“He said, ‘You’re not allowed to bring any type of beverage in here,’” Ravelo said.
Solorzano added, “But we were seeing that people were walking around with drinks after that. So, then I was like, ‘He walked in with drinks. Why can’t we walk in with drinks?’”
The couple said they left the drinks at the door and proceeded to enter the pool area, where they stayed for a time.
But Solorzano said she noticed the security guard appeared to be watching them.
“So, I mentioned to Jesus, ‘Why is he watching us? Why is he pacing back and forth? Like, he won’t take his eyes off us,’” she said.
The couple said they decided to go back to their room. And that is when they were confronted by the security guard a second time.
“I don’t remember exact words. However, he said, ‘I need the room keys. I basically need the room keys to your room.’ I really think somehow, some way, he was going to try to access that room,” Ravelo said.
According to Ravelo, he told the guard he was going to speak to someone at the front desk, and that is when the guard struck him.
“I started yelling for help. And I was yelling, crying, like ‘somebody help me!’ It’s so crazy that everybody was just staring at me. Like I was the crazy one,” Solorzano said.
By the time help came from the pool area, the guard had stabbed Ravelo 11 times, according to court documents.
Ravelo said his recovery has been painful and continues to be to this day.
“I have physical scars and mental. The mental is the greatest battle,” he said.
The security guard was identified as Darrell Bolton. He was 50 years old at the time.
Bolton was a licensed security guard whose license allowed him to work unarmed, KPHO reports.
“The security company’s name is Woolsey Protection, and they appear to be a local company. We don’t know exactly what kind of vetting the Kimpton did. But we will find out,” Joe Watkins, an attorney representing Ravelo in a lawsuit against the security company and the hotel, said.
Reached by phone, a representative from the security company said they could not comment on what happened that day at the hotel or Bolton’s job qualifications.
KPHO reports that Arizona has few requirements for the lowest level of licensed security guards. They are required to be at least 18 years old, with no felony convictions, and are required to go through eight hours of training.
“The thing is, a majority of that training can simply be done online,” said Karl de la Guerra, who owns KDI Protective Services, an international security consulting and tactical training company.
De la Guera says he does not believe the state-required training is enough to prepare security guards for the stresses and situations they may face on the job.
“I’ve been instructing since 1981, and I will tell you that’s not something you can learn from a computer screen. I think myself and my colleagues understand that that training is set at a minimum requirement,” he said.
Officials from the Kimpton Hotel Palomar did not provide an immediate statement regarding the situation.
According to Phoenix police, Bolton was arrested and pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
He is currently in prison.
Ravelo said he wishes Bolton was charged with attempted murder, and he wants to know how he was hired to be a security guard at an upscale hotel.
“They definitely hired a monster. I think he was a psycho,” he said.
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