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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

crime & courts

Man, baby found surrounded by needles, rotting food

Hypodermic needles and rotting food covered the floor of a hotel room in which Bloomington police officers found a man and his 3-year-old son residing.

Zachary Frame, 23, was arrested in the early morning hours Thursday and preliminarily charged with neglect of a dependent after officers found him and three other adults occupying a room they had reportedly broken into at University Inn,
Bloomington Police Department Lt. Steve Kellams said.

The room was filthy, Kellams said.

Kellams said police initially responded to a complaint from the hotel’s front desk clerk, who reported at about 11:55 p.m. Wednesday a man might have pushed a woman subject through the window of one of the rooms.

Police arrived at the University Inn, 2601 N. Walnut St., and approached the room in which the incident reportedly occurred. Individuals inside the room had pushed a bed against the wall to barricade the door, Kellams said, and police had to use force to enter.

Police arrested Frame, who was wanted on a previous warrant for theft, after observing the conditions in which the father had evidently subjected the child to.

Kellams said Frame told police he was visiting Bloomington from Springville, Ind. and climbed through the room’s window, which was open, in order to escape cold temperatures.

Frame also admitted to having sex with a woman in the room while the child was present, Kellams said.

Police also considered the fact that the child was exposed to temperatures less than 20 degrees when adding the preliminary charge.

The other adults in the room were not arrested, but police advised them of trespassing laws and asked them to leave the property, Kellams said.

Police also found no evidence that a woman had been pushed through a window.
Indiana Child Protective Services responded to the incident and released the child to his mother, who Kellams said was married to Frame.

The two are reportedly separated. The child did not sustain injuries, Kellams added.
Frame is currently in custody at the Monroe County Jail with bond for his previous warrant set at $2,000 surety and $500 cash.

Additionally, bond for the additional preliminary charge is set at $4,000 surety and $500 cash.

The sign outside the University Inn informs passers-by the hotel is “under new management” and rates are currently $36 a night.

University Inn General Manager Joey Gatchalian, who assumed the role a couple weeks ago, said that rates will continue to increase in an effort to “clean up” the hotel.
In the coming weeks, the hotel will be wired for cable television, and rates will increase to $39 per night.

Gatchalian, who graduated with a degree in tourism management from IU in 2011, said he assumed the management role with hopes of returning the hotel to what it used to be: 96 comfortable rooms, a bar area with a pool table and banquet facilities.

“This place can be nice,” he said. “I’ve seen it in the past.”

The lobby is decorated with wingback chairs and chandeliers, but Gatchalian said past management may have contributed to such problems at the hotel.

“There’s been some bad stuff that’s happened here,” Gatchalian said. “It’s gonna take some time,” he said.

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