Man Arrested After Driving Pickup Through Alva Hotel

Monday, December 14th 2015, 7:10 pm

By: Aaron Brilbeck

A customer, apparently angry over his hotel bill, is in jail Monday night after intentionally crashing his pickup into the hotel lobby in front of police, and the whole incident was caught on camera.

Rupal Christian and her husband run the Comfort Inn & Suites in Alva.

12/14/2015 Related Story: Caught On Camera: Man Crashes Pickup Through Front Office Of Alva Hotel

She said the customer, 62-year old John Parsley, demanded a refund and threatened drive his pickup into the hotel lobby if he didn’t get it.

Christian voided the bill, but that wasn’t enough for Parsley.

“He said ‘I’m going to call the cops and I’m going to run you over,'” Christian recalls.

The police showed up and talked with Parsley for a few minutes. At that time, Christian thought the worst was over.

“Yeah, the officer is talking with him over there,” Christian said, pointing towards the parking lot. “That’s the reason I’m watching. Like I’m safe.”

But she wasn't.

Moments later, Parsley put his pickup in gear and, with the officer watching, he gunned it, missing Christian and a coworker by inches.

“I don’t know how I jumped that,” Christian said. “It’s just God’s hand. It’s just the Angel of the Lord protected me.”

Police arrested Parsley on a complaint of assault with a weapon. According to police reports, he told officers what he did because he thought Christian believed he was bluffing.

Christian said they want Parsley locked up for a long time.

Someone capable of doing this over a couple hundred bucks, they say, should not be on the loose.

“I just want to see him off the streets,” she said. “Because if has the daring to do this he can do anything.”