BY KEITH EPPS
A man police said may have spent three nights at a local hotel without paying got some more free lodging Tuesday--in jail.
Fredericksburg police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said an employee at the Hospitality House at 2801 Plank Road first noticed the man hanging around the hotel on Saturday.
Over the next few days, Bledsoe said, he was seen by different employees at various locations in the hotel, including leaving a vacant guest room.
Some chased him from the premises, while others were told, and apparently convinced, by the man that he was a guest there.
Hotel officials became more suspicious Monday when they found a pile of personal items stashed in an executive conference room.
Someone called the police the next day when the man was spotted again. The man ran when confronted, and police were told that he had been last seen in the area of Borders Books Music & Cafe in Central Park.
An officer found the man there and took him back to the hotel, where he was identified as the intruder.
Bledsoe said two room cards were found in his possession, along with some toiletries that came from the hotel. It was not clear how he obtained the room cards.
Derek K. Rose, 35, whose last known address was in Fredericksburg, was charged with breaking and entering, defrauding an innkeeper, possession of burglary tools and petty larceny.
He was placed in Rappahannock Regional Jail.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com