Bed Bugs Allegedly Bite Man At Hillcrest Area Hotel

SAN DIEGO -- “I feel like I’m in hell, being punished for something I’ve done in the past. It itches and burns,” said Zabi Nowaid.

It’s been a tough week for Nowaid.

The Bay Area law student arrived in San Diego for an internship, and checked into the Friendship Residential Hotel in Hillcrest.

“Two days after I checked in, I noticed some blood on the sheets,” said Nowaid.

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Eventually, Nowaid noticed two patches on his body resembling pimples.

Nowaid added, “Within a couple of days, my body had fully blown out into rosy patches.”

Doctors diagnosed him with insect bites.

Nowaid said he collected bugs off of the bed at the hotel -- bugs that county health officials identified as bed bugs.

Nowaid is not alone. Across the country, the bed bug problem continues to crawl higher.

The bugs feed on human blood and come out at night, infesting even high-profile hotels in New York.

Experts pointed to recycled mattresses and bans on most bed bug-killing pesticides like DDT as a couple of reasons for the rise in the problem.

In San Diego, managers at the Friendship Hotel said they are baffled.

Hotel managers said they quickly contact pest control.

Pest control treated the room, looking at the mattress and box spring, and found no bed bugs.

“Rest assured, we do not have bed bugs. I’ve had a technician look into it and I’ve never had problems in the past,” said Friendship Hotel General Manager Patty Waite.

Nowaid said the proof is in the pain.

“I think it’s filthy. It’s a breach of trust,” he said.

Nowaid is on antibiotics and may have to take steroids if his condition worsens.

The hotel said it would remove the mattress and monitor nearby rooms as a precaution.

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