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Medical referral patient’s escort is allegedly assaulted at Guam hotel
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Posted on Nov 13 2017
An unidentified person allegedly assaulted and knocked unconscious a man at the parking lot of a hotel in Guam last March.
The alleged victim, James Quitugua Reyes, is now suing Polaris Guam LLC, which owns Verona Resort and Spa, for negligence over his injuries.
Reyes was escorting a patient who was in Guam for medical referral. The Verona Resort and Spa regularly hosts guests of the CNMI Office of Medical Referral Services.
Reyes, through counsel Joseph E. Horey, asked the Superior Court to hold the hotel liable to pay him damages, interest, and costs of litigation. He demanded a jury trial.
According to the complaint, Reyes’ brother-in-law was referred to Guam in March 2017 for medical treatment, pursuant to the CNMI medical referral program.
Reyes travelled with his brother-in-law as a family escort.
Horey said the accommodation for Reyes and his brother-in-law was arranged at the Verona Resort and Spa in Tumon, Guam, by the Office of Medical Referral Services.
On March 10, 2017, at 11pm, while a guest at the Verona Resort, Reyes was standing in the parking lot of the hotel when he was allegedly assaulted by an unknown person or persons.
Reyes was knocked unconscious and was injured. He was taken to the Guam Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.
Horey said the parking lot of the hotel where Reyes was assaulted was dimly lit, unattended, and unequipped with any measures protecting the safety of guests using it.
Horey said that Verona is situated in an area “where criminal activity is sufficiently common that the hotel knew or should have known that its existing security measures were inadequate to reasonably ensure the safety of its guests when using the parking lot.”
Horey said Verona breached its duty of care to Reyes by failing to provide adequate lighting, security or other reasonable safety measures in its parking lot.
