CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A Mexican man says he panicked when a Canadian tourist yelled when he tried to strike up a conversation in a luxury hotel's elevator and beat her.
Jose Ramon Acosta Quintero, 28, told reporters Saturday he was "very, very drunk" and had been using cocaine when he beat tourist Sheila Nabb in an elevator at the five-star Hotel Riu in Mazatlan on Jan. 20, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Quintero, who is facing charges of attempted murder, said he tried to talk to the woman and she responded, but things quickly grew out of hand.
"When the elevator doors opened so she would step out, I put my hand on the door," the suspect said. "I wanted to keep talking to her. She got afraid when I wouldn't let her out. She started yelling, 'He won't let me out.'"
He said he got scared when Nabb started yelling.
"I covered her mouth and said, 'Please don't yell,"' the suspect said. "But she continued yelling. She got more afraid when I covered her mouth. And then I hit her four or five times in the face with my fist, and then I left."
Police said they found Quintero through blood DNA comparisons and surveillance footage from the hotel, CTV reported.
Police also said they were working to determine a clear motive in Nabb's assault.
Meanwhile, Nabb and her husband have returned to Calgary, where they live. She had to have facial reconstructive surgery after the attack.
