Asylum seeker charged in alleged incident at Amherst hotel

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — An asylum seeker has been charged following an alleged incident at a hotel in Amherst on Sunday evening, according to the Amherst Police Department.

Police responded to the Red Roof Inn located at 42 Flint Road around 6:25 p.m. Sunday for a reported fight. It it alleged that 35-year-old Daniel Narvaez-Velasqu attempted to use a roofing nail during an altercation.

It is unclear where Narvaez-Velasqu is from, but police say the victim is a local resident. They did say that he is an asylum seeker.

Narvaez-Velasqu is charged with second-degree attempted assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. He was released on a release ticket.

With the arrest, this becomes the third known arrest of an asylum seeker in recent weeks. On August 8, a man from Venezuela was charged with raping a woman in a Cheektowaga hotel room. Later that week, a man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was charged with sexually assaulting a woman at a Cheektowaga hotel.

After those two arrests, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced an agreement with New York City Mayor Eric Adams that no more asylum seekers would come to the area.