2022-10-20

October 20, 2022 - Hostage Situation at La Quinta

A little before noon on October 20, 2022, a gray van pulled to a screeching halt in the parking lot of La Quinta Inn in Amarillo, Texas.

A housekeeper for the hotel, located on 2108 S Coulter, saw 51-year-old Toni Len Nichols get out of the car. Nichols seemed angry and drunk, the housekeeper said. He was angry about an encounter he had at a car dealership and pulled his jacket open to display a gun underneath.^[1]

The housekeeper warned Nichols to calm down but he herded his girlfriend and dog into his room.

The incident was reported to the police, who arrived swiftly.

Police approached the door of the room and heard Nichols telling them to go away. In the background, police heard the woman screaming. As a result, SWAT was brought out.

As officers spoke to Nichols, a call came into dispatch from a woman claiming to be inside the room. The woman told dispatch that the man was armed with a gun and that she was not allowed to leave the room.^[2]

Two armored SWAT vehicles arrived at the hotel.

After about 45 minutes, the girlfriend left the hotel room. This changed the scenario from hostage situation into barricaded person scenario. Nichols called 911 and the operator transferred him to police hostage negotiator, Officer Hamilton Stanfield.^[3]

Negotiations lasted for several hours, during which Officer Stanfield spoke with Nichols on and off. During their conversations, Nichols would be calm at points, then become agitated and angry. With a fluctuating temper, Nichols made a series of verbal threats to shoot officers.

If these cops don’t leave I’m gonna kill em …. I’m gonna kill these
cops out here, dude. I’m not kidding with you. I’m gonna kill em, I’m
gonna kill em …. I will shoot these mother fuckers, and I don’t care if
I die.

State’s Ex. 2 at 0:45 – 2:56.

You know what dude, I’m so sick of your sh*t I’m ready to run out the
door and just fucking fire on em.

As the negotiations went on, a warrant was secured to arrest Nichols for unlawful restraint.

With negotiations proving unsuccessful, SWAT sergeant Toby Hudson decided to launch tear gas into the room in order to gain Nichols' compliance through non-lethal force.

They broke the glass to Nichols' window and launched the canister through it. The tear gas did not lead to Nichols' surrender or compliance. So they launched another canister of stronger tear gas.

One of the SWAT vehicles that were brought out to the hotel was the Bear Cat. This vehicle was parked facing Nichols' room. The officer assigned to the Bear Cat was Officer Bryan Gaitan. His task was to provide lethal cover for the officers with him who were deploying the tear gas canisters by walking near the front of the Bear Cat.^[4]

Officer Gaitan testified that he had seen Nichols come ot the window several times to ascertain the location of officers. He also testified that when officers broke the window and launched tear gas into the room, he heard five gunshots come from Nichols' room. He saw the curtains moving back and forth, presumably from the force of gunshots.

Corporal Michael Woodard, who was also assigned to the Bear Cat, gave a similar testimony.

At some point, Nichols walked outside of his room and continued to be non-cooperative. As a result, officers fired non-lethal round projectiles at Nichols. Two rounds hit Nichols and he surrendered.

After officers took him into custody, they recovered two firearms, four magazines, and six fired cartridge casings from his room.

Nichols was arrested for unlawful restraint and deadly conduct. He was booked into the Potter County Detention Center.

The Potter County DA’s office charged Nichols with the felony aggravated assault in August 2023, nearly a year after his arrest.

August 12, 2025 - Trial

Nichols pled not guilty and proceeded to a jury trial on August 12, 2025.

The three-day trial took place in 181st District Court with District Judge Tatiana Frausto presiding.

Trial counsel argued that Nichols was not guilty of the indicted offense, threatening a peace officer, because the threats were delivered over the phone to someone other than the named officer in the complaint (Bryan Gaitan)

Nichols took the stand to testify during the punishment phase on the last day of trial.

During deliberations, the jury sent out a note asking about whether the charge involved Bryan Gaitan specifically or if Gaitan represented the officers. The judge did not instruct the jury on this direction.

The jury found Nichols guilty of the offense on August 13, 2025. His punishment was assessed at 15 years in prison.^[5]

Criminal cases