MIDTOWN — A woman busted for prostitution earlier this month tied up a guest in his luxury hotel suite last week, threatened him with a knife to get access to his safe and forced him to take $1,000 out of an ATM before trying to flee with the cash, police said.
The 45-year-old victim, visiting from Pakistan, was staying at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel at 455 Madison Ave. on Sunday when he met Jade Terwillegar, 21, on the street at about 1 a.m., the NYPD said.
The two went to his hotel room, where he let Terwillegar tie him up because she said she “liked to do that kind of stuff,” the man told police.
After tying him up, she took money from his wallet and dresser and asked for the code to his hotel safe, according to the criminal complaint filed with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
When the man refused, Terwillegar pulled out a folding knife and demanded the code again, at which point he gave it to her, the complaint said.
Terwillegar took the man’s passport and 500 British pounds from the safe, then escorted him to an ATM machine at 345 Park Ave., where she demanded he take out more money from his account, the DA said.
The man withdrew $1,000 from two accounts and gave the cash to Terwillegar, who took him back to the hotel, where the man signaled to a worker for help, police said.
As the worker approached, Terwillegar fled the hotel and started running west on 51st Street, dropping the man’s passport along the way, the complaint said.
Palace Hotel staff managed to catch Terwillegar at 52nd Street and Madison Avenue and brought her back to the hotel, where they found the 500 British pounds and $1,590 in U.S. cash stashed in her bra, police said.
Terwillegar was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery, the DA’s office said
Less than three weeks earlier, on Jan. 6, she was arrested and charged with prostitution and criminal weapon possession after she agreed to have sex with an undercover officer for $500 and he found a stun gun in her purse, the DA said. She was released on her recognizance the following day.
Additionally, on July 26, Terwillegar was arrested and charged with unlicensed operation of a vehicle and driving with a suspended registration in Ulster County, DA records show.
She is currently being held at Rikers Island on $10,001 bail for the Jan. 24 robbery, according to the city Department of Correction.
An attorney for Terwillegar did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
She was expected to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court for the robbery charges on Wednesday, the DOC said.
