Housekeepers rescue teen girl from man’s hotel room in Alabama, cops say. He’s charged
Housekeepers rushed to rescue a teenage girl who was forced into a man’s room at an Alabama hotel, police said.
Now, 46-year-old Stephen Ayers — who was a resident at the hotel — is charged with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual abuse, the Dothan Police Department said in a Jan. 26 news release.
Officers responded to a call at about 1 p.m. Jan. 26 from a hotel in Dothan, where housekeepers said they removed a teen girl from Ayers’ room after seeing him force her to go inside, according to the release.
The girl told officers Ayers made sexual advances toward her, which she refused, then inappropriately touched her at the hotel. When she tried to leave the area, he grabbed her from behind and pulled her into his room, police said.
When officers tried to speak with Ayers, he ran to the second floor of the hotel, but they caught up to him and arrested him, police said.
Officers did not release the name of the hotel.
“Crimes like these will not be tolerated. The Dothan Police Department will hold those who commit these crimes accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Dothan Police Chief William E. Benny said in the release.
Ayers is being held without bond at the Houston County Jail, according to the release.
Dothan is about a 100-mile drive northwest from Tallahassee, Florida.
This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Housekeepers rescue teen girl from man’s hotel room in Alabama, cops say. He’s charged."
