Plaintiff operates Bronx Park Motel under a lease from the owner, NAB. Satlow is a partner in NAB. Plaintiff commenced this action seeking a declaratory judgment that Investors is obligated, under the terms of a policy of insurance, to defend and indemnify it in a negligence action. Upon stipulation of the parties the IAS court permitted an amendment of the complaint to include NAB and Satlow as additional insureds. In the negligence action, defendants Olga Delgado (Delgado) and Gabriel Vargas (Vargas) allege that on October 13, 1983, while they were guests at the motel, they were the victims of rape, assault and robbery when, as a result of defective door locks and inadequate security, an intruder entered their room.
The policy provides indemnity for bodily injury or property damage caused by an "occurrence" which is defined as an "accident". An endorsement to the policy states that an "`[a]ssault and/or [b]attery shall not be deemed an accident'". Unlike the IAS court, we read this exclusion to apply to intentional damage caused by or at the direction of the insured, its agents or employees, rather than assaults or batteries committed by unrelated third persons. Had Investors intended to preclude indemnification for damage upon the motel premises caused by criminal acts of a third party, it should have done so "in clear and unmistakable" language. (Kratzenstein v Western Assur. Co., 116 N.Y. 54, 59; Seaboard Sur. Co. v Gillette Co., 64 N.Y.2d 304, 311.)
Concur — Kupferman, J.P., Carro, Ellerin and Smith, JJ.