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Man arrested with weapons at Pelosi hotel
By The Associated Press
DENVER (AP) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was briefly evacuated from her downtown Denver hotel on Saturday when a man carrying two hunting rifles and two pistols tried to check in to the hotel.
Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley said 29-year-old Joseph Calanchini of Pinedale, Wyo., faces a charge of unlawful carrying of a weapon after police officers at the Grand Hyatt hotel noticed him carrying a rifle-type case while checking in. Calanchini did not have a concealed weapons permit, said Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
Wiley said authorities were not releasing information about whether the weapons were loaded because the case remained under investigation. Wiley said the charge is the same whether the weapons were loaded or unloaded.
Pelosi and other guests briefly evacuated the hotel but were never in danger, Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said.
Calanchini told KUSA-TV it was bad timing.
"I didn't even know the DNC was in town. I don't watch the news," Calanchini told the station from jail before he was released on $10,000 bond. "If I had known, I would have done things differently. It was a simple mistake."
Calanchini told KUSA he had the weapons because he was getting ready for a hunting trip Aug. 28.
Authorities were investigating a report that Calanchini was in town on business and had had the weapons worked upon to prepare for the trip.
"The speaker was never in any danger and she appreciates the quick and professional response of the police," said Daly.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All right reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
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