Chicago Police Praise Actions of Hotel Housekeeper

Proving that hotel housekeepers often go above and beyond their job duties to keep people safe, Chicago police praised the actions of a housekeeper working at W Hotel in the city’s Gold Coast last weekend.

After noticing two firearms and ammunition in the window sill of a guest room on July 4, the housekeeper reported the incident to Chicago police, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The police took Keegan Casteel, from Ankeny, Iowa, into custody after they found a semi-automatic rifle with laser-sight attachments and rounds in the chamber, a .45 caliber handgun, and bullet magazines in Casteel’s 12^th floor room overlooking the Ohio Street Beach and Navy Pier.

Casteel faces two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a loaded weapon without a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) Card, which is required to legally possess a gun in Illinois, WBBM-TV reports. Prosecutors say he is licensed to hold the guns in Iowa, but not in Illinois. His firearms were surrendered to the Chicago Police Department (CPD).

A Cook County judge ordered Casteel’s bond at US$10,000. After posting bail, he is allowed to go back to Iowa to await trial and is barred from having contact with any witnesses in the hotel staff.

The housekeeper’s actions may have prevented tragedy similar to the 2017 shooting from a Las Vegas hotel room that lead to the death of at least 60 people.

“This employee saw something by entering a room to clean it that likely prevented a tragedy from happening,” said David Brown, CPD Superintendent. “It was significant and very valuable, and we ought to keep a lot of praise on that employee for letting us know so we could act quickly and potentially avoid a tragedy.”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also praised the hotel housekeeper, saying, “Thank God for that hotel worker, who saw something, and said something, and I believe averted disaster.”