Lawsuit: Tucumcari motel had bedbug infestation

Three California residents filed a personal injury complaint against the Americana Motel in Tucumcari after they said they sustained dozens of bites from bedbugs during a stay in October.

Danielle Rangel, Ernie Cordero and juvenile Enzo Rangel of California on Dec. 29 filed the complaint for personal injury and punitive damages in Tucumcari district court against Ashjiv LLC, dba Americana Motel.

According to the complaint, the three arrived at the motel at 406 E. Route 66 Blvd. and checked into a room in the early morning hours of Oct. 13.

“Later that morning when Ernie awoke, he looked to his right and saw a bedbug sitting on his pillow,” the lawsuit stated. “Ernie quickly jumped out of the bed, lifted the blankets and discovered multiple bedbugs crawling on the bed.”

The complaint states the three took photos and video of the bedbugs and immediately left the motel.

Danielle stated she suffered 42 bite marks on her left hand, neck and upper shoulders. Enzo suffered 55 bite marks on his face, neck, arms and legs. Cordero saw 42 bite marks on his face, arms, hands, stomach and back.

“Plaintiffs contacted reception at Americana Motel to inform them of the situation,” the complaint states. “In response, the Americana Motel receptionist dismissed Plaintiffs’ complaints and asserted all the plaintiffs were suffering an allergic reaction.”

Reached by phone Sunday, motel owner Ashwin Jivanji, who lives in Dallas, said he gave the three a storage room that had not been used for overnight guests for some time because the rest of the motel was booked. Jivanji said he recalled the three were referred to the motel through a local church.

Jivanji said according to his records, the three never paid for the room.

Bedbugs are blood-feeding parasites that can live in mattresses, box springs, furniture and upholstery. The parasites are erroneously attributed only to cheap motels.

“These pests don’t differentiate between a 5-star hotel and cheap, low amenity motel,” the Pestworld.org website states. “To them, a bed is a bed as long as a blood meal is sleeping in it (and yes, that means you!).”

The complaint states the Americana Motel owners “had a duty to exercise reasonable and ordinary care to keep the promises of its motel safe” and “failed to use reasonable care to protect guests” from the insects.

They accused the motel’s owners of negligence. The plaintiffs have requested compensatory and punitive damages, interest and other relief.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by attorney Richard W. Sutten of the Sutten Law Group in Albuquerque.