Johnathon Alonzo James
Johnathon Alonzo James, 41, of 4255 Quinn Adams St., was arrested Saturday at the Homewood Suites Chattanooga-Hamilton Place, 2250 Center St., for sexual battery of a hotel employee.
Police responded at 2:45 p.m. to the hotel on reports of a forcible fondling. The victim told police she was upstairs on the third floor cleaning a room with her co-worker. She said she needed material from the hallway cart, so she walked outside the room and was met by a man in the hallway. She said he asked her to come to his room next door.
She walked into his room to see what he needed and he grabbed her by the hand, pulled her to the bed and "threw" her on it. She said he then tried to pry her legs open while she still had pants on. He then got on top of her and pinned her to the bed, trying to kiss her on the neck.
The victim said she stopped him by saying she needed to give her co-worker the rag she had in her hands. He then let her up and told her to be quiet. She said she left his room and returned to the room where her co-worker was working. She told her co-worker what had happened and they went to tell the manager.
The victim told police she had only been working at the hotel for two days. She described the man as a black male around 40 years old wearing white sweat pants and a white top. She said he had tattoos on him and that she did not know his name.
The manager said he is familiar with a group the woman was talking about and that they had multiple rooms on the third floor. Police knocked on the door of one of the rooms they occupied on the third floor and a woman answered the door. The officer noticed a man in the room in a wheelchair, unable to move. The officer asked if there was anyone else in the room and the woman said there was not. The officer asked if he could check the room to make sure, and the woman let him in. As the officer approached the adjoining room where the door was open, he found a black male wearing a white jacket and white sweat pants in the other room. The man had his hands behind his back, and after telling him multiple times to show his hands, he then refused. The officer then moved behind the man and saw he did not have anything in his hands and he detained him.
The officer asked him several times what happened and he said he did not know. He continued to deny any knowledge of why the police were after him. He then yelled at the woman (his mother) about why she had opened the door. The officer asked the man his name and he told him it was Johnathan James. He said his ID was in his pocket and police could get it. After searching his pockets, the police found no ID. He told the officer he did not have any warrants, and they could take a picture of him to verify that.
Police then walked James down to the patrol car to verify his identity. The officer was able to identify him and see that he was already a sexual offender. He advised James that a woman had accused him of attempting to sexually assault him.
James said he would never do anything like that and that he had not done anything wrong. After speaking with James for several minutes, the officer asked him if he knew who he was talking about, he said he kind of knew and that she had only been working at the hotel for a couple of days. He said the woman had come up to him and asked him for money, then walked away. Then he said she came on to him and started kissing him. He said this happened in the hallway on the third floor and then nothing else happened. Police checked with management to see if there was any video in the hallway of the third floor, but was told there was not.
Due to the fact that the stories from the woman and man were conflicting and that the man had originally denied any knowledge of the woman, then said she had kissed him, but the woman had never changed any of her story, police found the man's story inaccurate.
James was taken to the Hamilton County Jail and charged with sexual battery.