A suspect in the Denver hotel case calls it “a giant misunderstanding”; Ricardo Rodriguez says “There were guns and a lot of them” but no plot to harm anyone

DENVER (CBS4) – One of four suspects arrested in Denver on Friday night at a hotel near Coors Field said there was no plot to shoot MLB All-Star Game fans, even though one of his friends housed a large cache of weapons in his room at the Maven Hotel.

“He had a lot of guns, he had them,” said Ricardo Rodriguez. “I don’t know what his intentions were based on my understanding to sell and trade them. That was pretty much it.

Rodriguez, 44, spoke to CBS4 on Sunday night via a video stream at Denver Jail where he is being held on a weapons charge. The three other suspects arrested on Friday for drug and arms trafficking refused to be questioned.

Rodriguez said he arrived in Denver from Washington state last Thursday, intending to move to Colorado. He said mutual friends introduced him to Richard Platt, 42, who he first met on Thursday. He said Platt recommended them to stay at the Maven Hotel near Coors Field, which struck a chord with Rodriguez.

“I wanted to go to the star show, I wanted to be a part of it,” Rodriguez said.

He said he was armed with a 9mm pistol and also had an AR-15 rifle in his hotel room on the 8th floor, which he himself had reserved. Rodriguez said he designed and manufactured firearms and then donated them to military veterans. He said on Friday, while in Platt’s hotel room, that there was an array of weapons.

“I just saw a lot of guns that kind of worried me,” Rodriguez said.

He said: “They had a sniper rifle, probably two, two or three medium size assault rifles, AK-47s, another short entry weapon, for the average person it’s a TEC-9. , like an Uzi, many guns. “

Rodriguez said he also noticed bulletproof vests, ammunition and a large amount of narcotics in the room. Rodriguez said some of the weapons were unusable.

When asked if he asked Platt about all guns, Rodriguez said yes.

“He said he collected them for his friends.”

At another point in the interview, Rodriguez said, “He told me he wanted the guns, trading them with other friends. That was pretty much it.

Denver Police said a hotel worker saw the guns in Platt’s room and police were notified.

Platt, Rodriguez and another man and woman were arrested at the hotel on Friday evening.

Speculation swirled about how the guns were to be used.

Rodriguez says that to the best of his knowledge, the mass violence was unplanned.

“If he had actively mentioned something like that, if he had said something like that, I would never have let something like that happen.” I can tell you that if I had seen something like that, seen him prepare for something like that, I would have intervened. I would never have let something like this happen, ”Rodriguez said.

“Richard Platt loves this community. He may be involved in an activity that I think has nothing to do with actively and aggressively hurting his own community. I don’t think Richard Platt was the kind of person who would hurt anyone.

The FBI released a statement on Sunday saying the agency did not believe the suspects posed a threat to baseball fans or were involved in terrorism.
Platt, Rodriguez and the other suspects are due to return to court on Monday.