NYC hotel to buy ‘panic buttons’ for housekeepers
Traffic passes in front of The Pierre hotel Tuesday, May 31, 2011, in New York. Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar, former chairman of Egypt's Bank of Alexandria, was arrested on Monday and is accused of sexually abusing a maid at the hotel. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
NEW YORK— A New York hotel is promising to buy “panic buttons” for its housekeepers after an Egyptian businessman was accused of attacking a maid in one of its rooms.
The Pierre Hotel said it would give the devices to housekeepers so they can signal for help.
On Sunday evening a maid at the Pierre told her supervisor that guest Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar forced himself on her in his room.
On Wednesday Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the case may be hard to prosecute because the hotel did not report it until the next day. Omar says he is innocent.
On May 14 another housekeeper accused the head of the International Monetary Fund of attacking her at the Sofitel Hotel in Manhattan. Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned but denies the charges.
