The Tresser Boulevard hotel was accused of failing to prevent the 2006 assault in which a drifter roamed the garage for hours
Surveillance cameras in hotels.
before sexually assaulting a woman named in court papers as “Jane Doe.”
The victim claimed Fricker had been in the hotel and garage and acted suspiciously for days leading up to the sexual assault. The lawsuit alleged the hotel security staff failed to notice him or make him leave.
A woman raped at gunpoint in front of her children four years ago in the Stamford Marriott parking garage has settled a civil lawsuit filed against the hotel for an undisclosed amount of money.
Attorneys involved in the lawsuits would not comment about details in the case, which was withdrawn this September and resolved using a private alternative dispute resolution firm.
“It’s been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties and no further comment will be made,” said Donald Derrico, a lawyer representing the Stamford Marriott Hotel and Spa. The Tresser Boulevard hotel was accused of failing to prevent the 2006 assault in which a drifter roamed the garage for hours before sexually assaulting a woman named in court papers as “Jane Doe.”
Gary Fricker, a Danbury native and transient carpenter, was arrested three days after the October 2006 assault and was sentenced a year later to 20 years in prison. Wanted in Florida on arson charges, Fricker roamed the Marriott parking garage looking for victims before targeting a then-40-year-old mother, an arrest affidavit said.
One woman called police after the assault and said a man matching Fricker’s description was following her around the garage about an hour before the attack. A second woman reported her ATM card stolen from the garage that afternoon. Fricker tried to use it later that day, police said.
Authorities say Fricker put a gun to the back of the victim and forced her young children into their minivan, where he raped the woman after trying to rob her. He fled when the woman screamed and a car passed by. He was arrested in White Plains, N.Y., and immediately confessed to the attack.
The civil lawsuit was filed in March 2008, six month after Fricker was sentenced. The victim claimed Fricker had been in the hotel and garage and acted suspiciously for days leading up to the sexual assault. The lawsuit alleged the hotel security staff failed to notice him or make him leave.
The hotel had no security director or internal security policies at the time of the assault, according to a deposition in the case.
More than a year after the lawsuit was filed, controversy erupted over special defenses filed by lawyers hired by the Marriott that claimed the woman was careless, negligent and failed to “exercise due care” for her own safety and for the safety of her children. Attorneys said if the defense wasn’t raised they might have lost a chance to bring it up again in the future.
For more:Â http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Settlement-reached-in-Marriott-rape-case-860707.php
