March 1, 2008 / News / Police Blotter / Bay Ridge–Bensonhurst

Another death at Ridge hotel

By Dana Rubinstein

The Brooklyn Paper

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A hotel cleaning woman discovered the body of a 52-year-old man, his mouth covered in duct tape, in the bathtub of Room 221 at the Best Western Gregory Hotel in Bay Ridge on Monday afternoon, cops said.

It’s the second suspicious death in two-and-a-half months at the Fourth Avenue inn.

Cops responded to a 911 call at the hotel, which is between 83rd and 84th streets, at about 12:45 pm.

Once inside, they discovered the grisly scene — a bound dead body in the bathtub. Cops later identified the victim as Paul Mento, a resident of 71st Street.

A police spokeswoman said on Tuesday that the cause of death had yet to be determined.

Mento’s is the latest corpse to turn up in the hotel, which has a reputation for catering to family members visiting residents of the quiet neighborhood.

On Dec. 3, a hotel employee discovered the body of 26-year-old David Diaz in his hotel room. He had been stabbed in the back and beaten about the head.

Like Mento, Diaz was not an out-of-towner. Before his murder, he lived in a building on Fifth Avenue near 76th Street.

According to cops, Diaz had checked into the hotel the day before with a woman. He was never seen again alive, but the woman was spotted on surveillance video as she left the hotel hours after allegedly killing Diaz.

On Jan. 15, cops arrested Pamela Hanson, 20, and charged her with murder, grand larceny, petty larceny and criminal possession of a knife.

She claimed at her Feb. 20 arraignment that she acted in self-defense.

The manager of the hotel could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

A local community leader, who asked not to be identified, said neighbors were shocked by the recent spate of suspicious deaths.

“I’ve never heard of that place as a short-stay kind of place,” she said. “The Best Western is a reputable outfit. You have people who have family members who stay there.”

“Certainly having two events like this in a short period of time would lead to some concern,” she added.

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper

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