VERNON: An Indian American motel owner in Connecticut was shot dead after an argument over the price of a pass to use the motel’s swimming pool on a hot summer day. Hotelier Zeshan Chaudhry, 30, of Vernon, was shot at the Motel 6 after demanding $10 for a pool pass, police said. The suspect, 31-year-old Alvin Waugh, of Hartford, had offered $5, police said. Chaudhry did not take the money, police Sgt. Robert Marra said. There was a verbal argument and Chaudhry told Waugh, who was staying at the motel with a friend, to leave, police said. But he instead went upstairs, retrieved a gun and came down, Marra said.
Chaudhry was shot several times and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Waugh ran into some nearby woods, but surrendered to police after being contacted on his cellphone. He was being held in lieu of $2 million after his arraignment in Superior Court on charges including murder, criminal use of a weapon, use of a firearm for a felony, carrying a firearm without a permit, tampering with physical evidence, reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a minor.
Vaugh and his girlfriend had been staying at the motel for about a month. Waugh's girlfriend told police she asked Chaudhry about using the pool and began arguing with him after he told her she would have to pay $10 for a pool pass, said the report. Waugh joined the argument and at one point Chaudhry kicked the couple out of the motel and told the staff to lock them out of their room, according to the court documents.
That's when Waugh left the pool area and went to his room, then returned with a gun and, after arguing with Chaudhry again, shot the motel owner several times, according to the arrest affidavit. Ken Greene, interim AAHOA president and CEO, said there has been an increase in attacks against hoteliers and anti-Asian xenophobia during the pandemic. The senseless shooting is the latest example of the danger hotel owners and employees face when simply trying to do their job, Sagar Shah, Reform Lodging president and co-founder, was quoted as saying.
