By Heather Ratcliffe
08/24/2004
He simply pushed their doors open.
Armed only with towels and a penlight, the bold thief did it over and over again - so many times that police in Maryland Heights and Bridgeton figure he hit at least 30 rooms in eight hotels over the past year.
He finally fell into a police trap Friday morning, according to detectives, who said he told them it was the first time he did not wear his lucky dark blue jeans.
Ronald E. Hudson, 50, a parolee with a long felony record, confessed and was charged with two counts each of first-degree burglary and misdemeanor theft, police said in revealing the case Tuesday.
Hudson, of the 5700 block of Kennerly in St. Louis, is a crack cocaine user with 20 felony convictions, including several counts of burglary, police said. He was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Mostly, investigators explained, Hudson had preyed on carelessness.
While motels typically lock all but the lobby entrances overnight, he told detectives, he found side or back doors left propped open by guests or employees. Then he worked his way down the hallways, pushing on doors and occasionally finding one that was left unlatched. In one case, police found a victim's door that even when locked would still yield to a shove.
The intruder would use a towel to prop the door open, quietly, and move along. Later, if the towel was not disturbed, he figured the room's occupant was not, either. So he would sneak in, looking for jewelry on a bathroom counter or a wallet on a night stand.
Police said Hudson told them he usually passed up drivers licenses and credit cards to save his victims the trouble of replacing them.
He said he preferred motels near Lambert Field, police noted, because they have a high percentage of travelers who he knew would not be armed because of airport security checkpoints.
Hudson did not want confrontations, said Rich White, a Maryland Heights police detective who spent a year hunting for him.
"I don't think that he's dangerous," White said. "He told me he got a rush out of going into people's rooms while they sleep."
But sometimes there were confrontations.
An Army major from Fort Leonard Wood, wearing only boxer shorts, once chased the intruder down a hall and out of the building.
The burglar also ran when a couple discovered him standing over their bed in the dark. The two went back to sleep and didn't tell the motel clerk until morning. Police offered no explanation for the complacency but figured they did understand the thief.
"He just didn't want people to see his face," White said, noting that surveillance videos never seemed to faze him. "He knew the camera was there. He would look down and shield his face with the bill of his hat."
Face or not, he left a mark on the victims.
"It was disturbing," said Linda Knopke, who was here in January to attend her grandmother's funeral. "Just to think he was looking at us and going through our property. It takes away your peace of mind."
Like most victims, Knopke, of Flagstaff, Ariz., never knew about the crime until the next morning. She lost a watch, jewelry and cash.
As the frequency of burglaries increased in the last few months, so did concern among investigators.
"There was a high probability that someone was going to get hurt," White said.
That prompted police to set a trap. For several nights last week, detectives watched a hotel where the burglar regularly visited.
On Wednesday, they booked a room and left the door open just a crack as officers waited inside. The thief never showed.
On Thursday night, they set up in the parking lot. From surveillance pictures, they knew which door he used in the past.
Just before 4 a.m. Friday, a man threw a towel over his head and walked inside. Detectives followed but lost sight of him. When Hudson left about an hour later, officers said, they pulled him over.
Back at the station, police said, Hudson told them everything.
"He was like a predator," White said. "He knows the hotel system and how to use their weaknesses. He was smart enough and almost proud of it."
Police recovered Knopke's watch and a bracelet from pawnshop, along with loot from some of the other motel crimes.
Police said Hudson told them he would hit as many rooms in a night as it took to get about $300 in cash and valuables - what he needed to feed his crack habit.
"He just made out like it was so easy," White said. "He would have kept doing it until he was caught."
Hotel room security
Test the room door to be sure it closes properly and cannot be pulled open.
Always use the deadbolt, chain or security bar while in the room.
Don't leave valuables where they can be easily seen, such as on the bathroom sink or nightstand.
Keep your purse or wallet close while you sleep.
Don't prop open any doors, interior or exterior, even for a moment.
Call police immediately to report suspicious activity.
Source: Maryland Heights Police Department