Teen arrested in attack on hotel maid
BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer

Ahmer Igbal

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - A 19-year-old Franklin man was arrested on Dec. 31 for assaulting a maid at the Red Roof Inn Hotel on Route 1, police said.

Ahmer Igbal allegedly harassed the woman around 11:50 a.m. as she was cleaning a bathroom in one of the hotel rooms, according to police.

Police said that as the victim was bent over, scrubbing a bathtub, Igbal allegedly came up behind her, put his hand over her mouth and began pulling back on her hair. The victim was able to remove Igbal's hand from her mouth and scream for help. At that point, Igbal allegedly pushed the victim down and fled in his car.

The incident was immediately reported by the victim and others. For weeks prior, the hotel staff had noticed Igbal around the area acting strangely, according to police reports. A maid took down his license plate a week before the assault, which police found out to belong to Igbal's family.

Detectives Ronald Seaman and Jim Ryan of the South Brunswick Police Department arrested the suspect at a health club in New Brunswick. Igbal was charged with burglary, criminal restraint, assault and trespassing. He was taken to the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick, where bail was set at $25,000.

The victim was treated for bruises at the scene by EMS, but did not go to the hospital.