Business traveler wakes up in his Nashville hotel room to find manager ‘sucking’ on his toes 

Business traveler visiting Nashville wakes up at 5 a.m. in his Hilton hotel room to find 52-year-old executive ‘sucking’ his toes

  • David Patrick Neal was charged with aggravated burglary and assault
  • Neal was the manager of the Hilton Hotel in downtown Nashville when he was reportedly caught sucking the toes of a sleeping guest on March 30 at 5 a.m.
  • The guest sues Neal, who has been convicted of manslaughter, for assault

A business traveler passing through Nashville woke up to find his hotel’s manager sucking his toes, court records show.

The victim said he was sleeping at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Nashville on March 30 when he awoke at about 5 a.m. to find manager David Patrick Neal, 52, indulging in a foot fetish on his lower fingers.

Startled, the guest said he screamed and called the police. Neal later said he used a key to enter the room because he smelled smoke, although police reports showed he had not reported the odors to anyone at the time.

Neal, who has a long criminal record that includes manslaughter for shooting his roommate to death in the 1990s, was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated burglary and assault.

The guest sued Neal for assault.

David Patrick Neal, 52, who was allegedly caught sucking guests’ toes while they slept

The Hampton Hotel in downtown Nashville, where David Patrick Neal and was reportedly arrested

The Hampton Hotel in downtown Nashville, where David Patrick Neal and was reportedly arrested

He told WKRN that after being awakened in March, he immediately recognized Neal because the manager had visited the room the previous night to fix the television.

When the police arrived, Neal admitted to using a cloned key to access the room, but threw it away after being caught.

The guest said he was shocked by the incident and that it shattered his sense of security.

“My whole life you just have that sense of security and that sense of peace, right? It’s not like you’re camping and you have to keep an eye open,” he told WKRN. “You have that security that belongs to you, and when you close your eyes, you feel like you’re safe and protected, and that was a complete transgression.”

“I was just so, so shocked. It was, ‘Who are you? Why are you in my room?’ It was almost a dream, a kind of nightmare. It just didn’t make sense. Why is this person touching me?’

The victim’s attorney, Michael Fisher, told WKRN he was appalled that the Hilton had hired someone like Neal for a job that would allow him unrestricted access to guestrooms.

“Multiple charges of forgery, drunk driving and also a manslaughter conviction, which has served time in prison,” Fisher said. “When Hilton hired this person, they should have known. They have to do background checks to know, and the fact that they would put someone like that in a position where they have the ability to clone keys have the ability to get into a guest’s room.”

Following his arrest, Neal was detained after failing to post $27,000 bail.

In 1996, Neal was charged with second-degree manslaughter for shooting his roommate during a fight.

Neal said the murder was committed in self-defense, but a jury found him guilty of voluntary manslaughter.