Houston Police Arrest 'Drunk' Man With Stash Of Weapons In Hotel Room

Houston police arrested an intoxicated man with a small cache of weapons in his hotel room early Sunday, officials said.

Police later identified the man as 49-year-old Russell Lawrence Ziemba. Officials interviewed Ziemba hours after the arrest, and determined he had “no unlawful intent” to use the weapons, tweeted Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo.

Police had responded to a call for “urgent” backup from an officer at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Houston around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, an officer at the Houston Police Department Command Center told HuffPost.

The officer initially attempted to arrest the “drunk and belligerent” man for trespassing, but requested help from other officers after discovering ammunition in his hotel room, Lt. Gordon MacIntosh told the Houston Chronicle.

Officers then “located multiple firearms,” the HPD command center officer told HuffPost. The weapons include an AR-15, a shotgun and a handgun, according to local NBC affiliate KPRC. Investigators also located and examined his vehicle.

Ziemba faces charges of assaulting a peace officer and criminal trespassing, the Houston Police tweeted.

The incident occurred hours before the Hyatt Regency’s massive New Year’s Eve party, which spans four floors and a 50,000-balloon drop at midnight.

Hyatt Regency Houston was “fully cooperating” with the police investigation, Tom Netting, the hotel’s managing director, said in a statement.

“The safety and security of our guests and colleagues is our top priority, and consistent with the hotel’s prepared security plans, heightened measures are in place on New Year’s Eve,” Netting said.

This story has been updated with latest comments from police.