Affidavits for the four suspects arrested in connection with the discovery of guns, ammunition and drugs in rooms at a downtown Denver hotel do not mention any evidence that the group planned a mass shooting, though police wrote in the documents that they feared the possibility of one.
A housekeeper at The Maven Hotel on Friday saw guns in one of the hotel’s rooms and alerted her boss, who called police, according to the newly released court records.
Hotel staff then looked up the cars connected to the room and found a Mercedes with Idaho license plates in the hotel’s parking garage. A duty belt, a high-capacity magazine and a ballistic vest were visible inside the car, according to the suspects’ arrest affidavits.
The Maven Hotel is located just a block from Coors Field, where thousands of fans are gathering for MLB All-Star Game festivities.
“It should be noted that this information was concerning to officers due to the location of the rifle, ballistic vest, duty belt and requesting a room with a balcony coupled with the fact that the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game events happening in the immediate area of the hotel,” police noted in the arrest affidavit for one of the suspects. “There is a propensity for mass casualty incidents in scenarios such as the above where many people are gathered together in a small area for a single event.”
Police redacted from the affidavits all comments that the suspects made to officers during their arrests.
The FBI in Denver said Sunday there was no indication the four people arrested posed a threat to the game, but Denver police have refused to rule out the possibility that the group was plotting a mass shooting. FBI spokeswoman Courtney Bernal said Monday that the federal agency is no longer actively involved in the investigation because there was no threat to the All-Star Game, but will assist if needed.
Beyond releasing the affidavits, Denver police did not provide any further information about the case Monday. A spokesman for the department said the investigation continued and that police would release information as it progressed.
Three of the suspects — Ricardo Rodriguez, 44, Gabriel Rodriguez, 48, and Kanoelehua Serikawa, 43 — appeared in Denver County Court on Monday and were each given cash-only bonds by Judge Tanja Wheeler, who said she believed the suspects present a danger to the community. Also arrested in the incident was Richard Platt, 42; he appeared in court Sunday.
A prosecutor with the Denver District Attorney’s Office on Monday identified Ricardo Rodriguez as the apparent ringleader of the group.
Serikawa, Platt and Gabriel Rodriguez were each given $50,000 cash bonds, while Ricardo Rodriguez was given a $75,000 cash bond. All of the suspects are prohibited from going within a mile of The Maven Hotel if they are released on bond.
“The specific allegations… are highly, highly concerning to this court,” Wheeler said. “The presence of a high, high number of weapons and ammunition and in a heavily populated part of the city, in particular.”
Officers started surveilling the property and arrested Gabriel Rodriguez at 7:39 p.m. near the room under investigation. Gabriel Rodriquez wore a backpack at the time of his arrest that contained a loaded semi-automatic handgun with a destroyed serial number, black tar heroin, a “large quantity” of methamphetamine and $1,120 in cash, according to his arrest affidavit.
Platt was arrested as he left one of the two rooms under surveillance, according to police documents. Police found Serikawa and Ricardo Rodriguez in hotel rooms and arrested them.
According to court records, the suspect who’d rented the first room was supposed to have checked out Friday, but requested to stay several more days and asked for a second room with a balcony overlooking the alley.
Officers arrested Ricardo Rodriguez, Gabriel Rodriguez and Platt on investigation of possession of a weapon by a previous offender, while Gabriel Rodriguez and Platt also face counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Serikawa was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, but no gun charges.
Wheeler also noted the lengthy criminal histories for Gabriel Rodriguez and Ricardo Rodriguez as she determined bond, both in Colorado and elsewhere. Ricardo Rodriguez’s attorney, Liz Krupa, said he is “gainfully employed,” and has family in Colorado. She said he is planning to move to Colorado.
Ricardo Rodriguez, who is not related to Gabriel Rodriguez, claimed during his court appearance that he formerly worked for the federal government, although it was not immediately clear in what capacity. He appeared to react with disbelief when prosecutor Michelle Williams described him as the apparent “leader of this entire incident” and “a serious danger to the community.”
Ricardo Rodriguez told CBS Denver in a jailhouse interview after his arrest that he was not aware of any plan for a mass shooting and that other members of the group intended to sell and trade the guns in the hotel rooms.
Serikawa’s attorney, Trent Mannina, emphasized her very limited and minor criminal history in Colorado, where he said she has lived for 17 years, and said she was “peripheral” in the case against the men who were arrested.
“There’s nothing to tie her to those guns except that she was present in the room,” he said.
Platt’s criminal history in Colorado dates back to 1998 and includes felony convictions on weapons and drug charges, receiving stolen property, theft and assault, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Evidence filed as part of an eviction case against Platt states that several of his neighbors complained to the property company of alleged drug dealing from a Boulder apartment that he leased. Neighbors wrote that a constant stream of people came in and out of the apartment and that there were frequent fights, according to documents filed in the case, filed in March.
A separate, pending criminal case against Platt in Douglas County alleges that he and Serikawa stayed together at a hotel in Lone Tree in June 2020 even though Platt was subject to a protection order that required him to avoid any contact with Serikawa.
In that case, an officer saw Platt sitting in a truck with a syringe in his hand, prompting the officer to search the truck and discover what appeared to be heroin and methamphetamine, two digital scales, two bags of syringes and a 9 mm gun with hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
During that encounter, Serikawa came out of the hotel and walked up to officers, and Platt admitted she’d stayed with him that night, an arrest affidavit says. He said they’d argued, and he’d taken the 9 mm gun from Serikawa because he was concerned she would hurt herself, according to an affidavit in the case.
Platt was arrested and charged with drug and gun charges, as well as violating a protective order. As a convicted felon, Platt is not allowed to legally possess a gun.
