Motel owner shot and killed in argument over $10 pool pass during heat
FILE - File image of crime scene tape. (FOX TV Stations)
VERNON, Conn. - A Connecticut motel owner was shot and killed after an argument over the price of a pass to use the motel's swimming pool on a hot summer day.
Zeshan Chaudhry, 30, of Vernon, was shot Sunday afternoon near the pool at the Motel 6 in Vernon after demanding $10 for a pool pass, police said.
The suspect, 31-year-old Alvin Waugh, of Hartford, had offered $5, police said.
"Mr. Chaudhry did not take the money," police Sgt. Robert Marra told The Hartford Courant. "There was a verbal argument that ensued after that."
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Chaudhry told Waugh, who was staying at the motel with a friend, to leave, police said. But he instead went upstairs, retrieved a gun and came back down, Marra said.
"It sounds like the victim began to antagonize him," Marra told the newspaper. "I don’t know if he knew that he had a gun."
Chaudry was shot several times and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
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Waugh ran into some nearby woods, but surrendered to police after being contacted on his cellphone.
He was being held in lieu of $2 million after his arraignment in Superior Court Monday on charges including murder, criminal use of a weapon, use of a firearm for a felony, carrying a firearm without a permit, tampering with physical evidence, reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a minor.
Temperatures in the area hovered near 90 degrees (32 Celsius) on Sunday.