Busboy Also Charged in Fatal Puerto Rico Hotel Fire

A Dupont Plaza Hotel busboy was charged Wednesday with helping a maintenance worker start the New Year’s Eve fire that killed 96 people at the luxury hotel.

Both longtime hotel employees were in custody on arson and other charges, and investigators indicated that more arrests could ensue. A federal complaint alleges that the actions of the suspect accused of setting the fire were shielded by more than one person.

Armando Jimenez Rivera, a 28-year-old bar busboy, was arrested Tuesday and arraigned Wednesday in U.S. District Court on charges of arson and “aiding and abetting.” He was accused of helping Hector Escudero Aponte, 35, set the fire.

The federal complaint against Jimenez Rivera, who the FBI said had worked at the hotel for 10 years, asserted that he gave the Sterno-type fuel to Escudero Aponte “and then stood with others in front of Escudero to block the view of others, so that Escudero could put the flammable material on a stack of boxed furniture in the south ballroom area.”

Escudero Aponte was charged in federal court Tuesday with arson and in Puerto Rico District Court with arson, destruction of property and 96 counts of murder.

A grand jury indicted the two on federal charges on Wednesday.

Court documents said the FBI obtained confessions from Jimenez Rivera and Escudero Aponte, a father of two who had worked at the hotel for 10 years. Federal officials identified the men as members of the Teamsters Union.

Teamsters leaders said Jimenez Rivera had been honored at a Jan. 3 assembly for the bravery he displayed in rescuing people in the hotel fire.

Both men, if convicted, face maximum sentences of life imprisonment. Puerto Rico does not have the death penalty.