Hotel Room Dispute Yields Charges Officer Pulled Gun

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Victor E. Bryant and his girlfriend, Angela Montgomery, checked into a room at the Hampton Inn in National Harbor one afternoon last month. The Charles County couple planned on attending a concert, drinking some beer and spending the night.

Members of the Day family from Michigan checked into the Hampton Inn a few hours later. They were in Maryland for a family reunion and were looking forward to taking in some of Washington's sights.

A hotel worker mistakenly assigned them the room already given to Bryant and Montgomery. The two sets of hotel guests don't agree on what happened when they encountered each other later that night. But it clearly didn't go well.

By the end of the evening, Bryant was in handcuffs, charged with three counts of assault for allegedly pointing his service weapon at two members of the Day family and a hotel worker and threatening to shoot one of the Days. The Days say Montgomery and, to a lesser extent, Bryant showered them with racially provocative language. The Days are black; Bryant and Montgomery are white.

In an interview, Bryant denied pointing his gun at anyone and said he did not use racially inflammatory language. Bryant, 36, acknowledged that Montgomery used racial epithets. "When Angela said those words, [the Day relatives] really sparked up," Bryant said. "They really got upset when she said the N-word."

Bryant said the Days are fabricating the allegations that he pointed his weapon at two members of their family and a hotel worker, and suggested one of the Days stole an $80 lighter he had left in the room.

"It's a total nightmare," Bryant said.

Raymond Day, 50, said no one stole anything. "I hope I never go through that again," he said.

A representative for the development firm that owns the Hampton Inn declined to comment.

Montgomery, 28, did not return a message left with Bryant. A few days after the incident, Montgomery was charged with two counts of second-degree assault. Those charges were later dropped.

This month prosecutors dropped three charges of first-degree assault against Bryant. He still faces three counts of second-degree assault.

Bryant said his job entails protecting a member of Congress. Sgt. Jessica Baboulis, a Capitol Police spokeswoman, said Bryant is on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the criminal charges. An internal investigation will be conducted once the criminal charges are resolved, Baboulis said.