Armed Man Holds Son, Waiter Hostage at Disney World Hotel

An armed man held his 4-year-old son and a waiter hostage Thursday at a Walt Disney World hotel and demanded to speak to his estranged wife, authorities said.

Negotiators and a police psychologist talked to the man, identified as 39-year-old Bismark Rodriguez, and the hostage at the Boardwalk Inn, said Sgt. Bernie Presha, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office. The waiter was taken hostage when he delivered food to the man’s hotel room.

“He has threatened to harm himself and he has threatened to harm the people with him,” said Jim Solomons, another sheriff’s spokesman.

Rodriguez called a television station twice and said he hadn’t seen his other three children in 30 days and he wanted to speak with them and his wife. He said he and his wife of 14 years are going through a divorce.

He claimed to have several guns and a bomb and said he would release the hostages if he could speak to his wife. The hostages were still being held six hours later.

Some rooms in the 910-room deluxe hotel, which has an Atlantic City boardwalk theme, were evacuated. The rest of the sprawling resort, which includes 17 hotels, was operating normally, Presha said.

Rodriguez called the Orlando FBI office and requested a hostage negotiator, Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary said. Rodriguez recently lived in nearby Kissimmee.

Rhonda Powell, a visitor from Le Sueur, Minn., was headed to a restaurant near the hotel when she saw the sheriff’s helicopters and dozens of officers blocking off the area, in the heart of the Walt Disney World complex.

“You don’t expect this to happen here,” Powell said. “You think you’re in a fantasy land here.”

F (A2) HOSTAGE DRAMA--An armed man held his 4-year-old son and a waiter hostage at a Walt Disney World hotel in Florida and demanded to speak to his estranged wife, authorities said. A23