SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A San Diego woman is suing the historic Lafayette Hotel, claiming staff failed to protect her from a guest who brutally assaulted her in 2021 despite multiple warnings about his dangerous behavior.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, was beaten, raped, sodomized, and tortured for eight hours inside room 108 of the Lafayette Hotel by guest Darrain Perkins. Perkins was later sentenced to 140 years to life in prison for the crimes.
Jane Doe's lawsuit alleges the hotel had a legal obligation to ensure her safety but allowed Perkins to remain as a guest despite several reported incidents of threatening behavior toward staff.
"What she went through – no human on earth would trade any amount of money, anything in the world for what happened to her," said Allison Worden, one of Jane Doe's attorneys.
According to court records, Perkins had been a guest at the Lafayette for nearly three weeks before the assault. During that time, he allegedly made unwanted sexual advances toward a female housekeeper and followed her around the hotel.
Court documents state the housekeeper told her supervisor she "no longer felt safe" and that Perkins was "dangerous." Instead of removing him from the hotel, management moved Perkins to a different floor.
"If you are aware and you know that you have someone that's dangerous on your property you have a legal obligation to remove that dangerous person," said Max Halpern, Jane Doe's other attorney.
The harassment allegedly continued after Perkins was moved. A supervisor reportedly feared for the safety of other female housekeepers and told them not to clean Perkins' room without a male Lafayette Hotel employee present.
In court documents, attorneys for the hotel explain housekeepers complained about sexual harassment from Perkins but claim there's no evidence they knew about the crime and failed to stop it.
"He was allowed to stay in the hotel – it was after all of these incidents where the hotel was warned repeatedly and told by their own housekeeping staff that they were scared for their safety," Worden said.
The lawsuit also claims the hotel failed to train staff to recognize signs of human trafficking or post required signage, as mandated by California law. Jane Doe's attorneys argue that if the Lafayette had followed the law, she would have been rescued.
"Because the Lafayette hotel did not follow the law and did not provide any of their employees with human trafficking training, they had no idea what they were witnessing," Worden said.
The Lafayette Hotel was purchased by North Park Yacht Club in March 2021, about two and a half months before the assault. State records show the company is run by Arsalun Tafazoli, who also operates CH Projects, the management company behind several popular San Diego restaurants and bars. However, CH projects were not the management company at the time of the incident.
In a statement, a spokesperson for CH Projects said the hotel " When CH bought the property, the hotel already had a management contract in place with Hostmark that we were still legally bound to honor, and the incident occurred while parts of the deal were still in escrow. Unfortunately, the hotel was pretty run-down and poorly managed prior to us taking over.”
An attorney for Hostmark defended the company, saying no evidence has been uncovered to support claims that hotel management was aware of the criminal activity. In an email, the attorney wrote, "This was a horrific criminal case which was already handled in the courts by the San Diego District Attorneys’ office. The perpetrator was found guilty. It happened almost 5 years ago. This is not a situation where the defendant in the civil case should be held liable for this unforeseeable criminal activity."
Jane Doe's attorneys disputed that statement, pointing to her lawsuit, which claims that despite contracting with a security company, there's no evidence a security guard was present the night of the assault.
"Had a security guard been doing the required checks as outlined by their policies and procedures, they would of course hear the yelling the cries, the screams that came out from our client during that awful ordeal," Worden said.
For Jane Doe, the lawsuit is about accountability and ensuring "what happened to her will never happen to any other person."
Court records show the case is scheduled to go to trial later this year. The Lafayette Hotel has undergone complete reconstruction in the years following the attack.
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