Miami Beach hostel guest wakes up to a stranger in her bed, cops say. He’s now been arrested
An Alabama man has been charged with sexual battery after police say he crawled into bed with a woman who was staying at a Miami Beach hostel.
The woman — who had left the door open to her room for her boyfriend — told police she woke up with the stranger in-between her legs.
Officers found the man, identified by authorities as 61-year-old Joel Bush from Montgomery, in the courtyard of the hostel, wearing boxers and no shirt, according to a police report.
The incident happened at about 2 a.m. Wednesday at the Bikini Hostel, 1255 West Ave.
The woman, who was not identified by police, said she and her boyfriend were staying in a private room in the main house of the hostel. The couple went to a local bar and she returned to the hostel by herself, according to the report.
She left the door cracked open because her boyfriend didn’t have a key, police said.
Soon after getting into bed, she felt someone join her. At first she thought it was her boyfriend.
“The victim thought it was a nightmare and told the unknown man (defendant) to stop,” an officer wrote in the report. “The defendant stopped and laid next to her as she continued to tell him to leave and get out.”
She waited until she felt safe and called 911.
It was not clear Wednesday night whether Bush had bonded out of jail or retained an attorney.
This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 10:42 PM.
