Florida hotel owner found crawling on floor next to sleeping guests

BUSHNELL, Fla. (CBS12) — An owner of a hotel in central Florida is facing burglary charges after people sleeping in a hotel room caught him sneaking into their room, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said.

The incident happened Thursday morning at the Bushnell Inn.

The occupants of the room told deputies they heard a noise and found a man crawling on the floor next to their bed. They confronted him, and he ran out the door with a sheet over his face.

Deputies reviewed surveillance video from the hotel. It showed the man close up the hotel. Authorities said he then went near the room of the victims before entering his own room.

The victims identified the intruder as 49-year-old Manishkumar B. Patel. The Sheriff’s Office arrested him on a burglary charge.

Authorities arrested Patel in 2014 on sexual battery charges. He’s set to go to trial in that case in November. His bond has since been revoked. He is also facing charges of evidence tampering.