American Manager of Hotel Is Kidnapped in Acapulco

Gunmen posing as federal police kidnapped the American manager of the Princess, one of Acapulco’s leading hotels, state and police officials said Wednesday. A police officer was killed and another was wounded in a shootout that ensued.

Ten heavily armed men dressed in the black uniforms of the federal police intercepted Vincent Carrozza’s car Tuesday near the hotel, said Hector Omar Maganda of the district attorney’s office in Guerrero state.

Lt. Col. Marcos Roman Baena, the state judicial police chief, said Carrozza is believed to be a 52-year-old New Jersey native who had been living in Acapulco and working in the tourism industry for more than 20 years.

But a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said it had no information on the case and did not know Carrozza’s hometown.

As the kidnappers forced Carrozza into their truck, a passing police squad gave chase, Maganda said. The police opened fire, and the kidnappers fired back.

Deputy Cmdr. Jose Martinez Manriquez was fatally shot in the head and neck, Maganda said. Another officer shot in the chests was hospitalized in serious condition.

The Princess is one of the top five hotels in this Pacific beach resort, which is popular with American and Canadian tourists.

Dozens of kidnappings take place in Mexico every year. Relatives and friends of victims usually refuse to notify police or file a complaint for fear of reprisal.

Executives at the Princess said they were not aware of Carrozza’s abduction.

“All I know is that the gentleman [Carrozza] is traveling,” Etelvina Rios, assistant manager at the Princess, said in a telephone interview.

She also said she did not know of any shootout.

Baena, the judicial police chief, said officers backed by army troops were combing the state in search of Carrozza and the kidnappers but had found nothing.