North Carolina man booked into detention center twice within 24 hours after separate incidents at 2 hotels: Cops

A North Carolina man accused of trespassing and disturbing guests at a hotel was arrested less than 24 hours later at a second hotel following an alleged assault and kidnapping, police said.

Shortly before 6:30 a.m. on March 19, officers responded to a report about a man, later identified as 31-year-old Richard Barnhill, refusing to leave the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Asheville, KRDO reported.

“He was knocking on doors, trying to talk to folks, which is out of the norm for someone at a hotel at that time in the morning,” Sgt. Lucas Lovelace said.

Officers transported Barnhill to the Buncombe County Detention Facility and released him around an hour and a half later, according to police.

The Weaverville Police Department said less than 24 hours later, on March 19, Barnhill went to the Fairfield Inn & Suites, where he allegedly assaulted a woman and held her against her will.

Lovelace was again booked into the Buncombe County Detention Facility.

He faces charges of assault on a female, assault by strangulation, attempted second-degree sex offense, kidnapping, and trespassing in connection to the second incident, and he was being held on a $352,000 bond.