Two North Carolina spring breakers have been arrested and a woman who died at a hotel on Miami Beach, Florida, has been charged with drug, rape and theft, officials said Monday.
Court records show 21-year-old Avier Collier and 24-year-old Dorian Taylor face charges of sexual battery theft, burglary and other offenses. They remain in custody; The bond amount was not listed on Monday evening.
Officials at Miami Beach have struggled to handle the waves of beach-going tourists who have been in the area since last month. There have been more than 1,000 arrests since February, and on Sunday, the city imposed a new curfew and other restrictions that could last until mid-April.
Citing police records, NBC Miami reported that Collier and Taylor were spotted with a 24-year-old woman on surveillance video entering the Albion Hotel on Thursday. Half an hour later, he reports, Collier and Taylor walked away without the woman and were later stopped and arrested.
During the bond hearing on Monday, the plaintiff said the woman was so dissatisfied when she entered the hotel that she could not consent. It was not immediately clear when and why the woman died.
Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer said one of the defendants admitted to giving the woman a green pill with “A30” characters on it but it was not clear what was in the pill and a toxicology report was pending.
NBC Miami reports that officials accused Collier and Taylor of using a credit card stolen from the woman after she left the hotel.
A relative told the station that the woman had gone to the area alone.
The men’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A woman who identified herself as Collier’s older sister and legal guardian said at the Bond hearing that she had never been in trouble and that the allegations made her “hateful.”
He said, ‘I can attest to his character.’ “Please let my brother come home.”
