A Storm Lake man who recorded himself beating a Sioux Falls hotel guest has been extradited to South Dakota, where he’s now facing multiple felony counts.
Twenty‑three‑year‑old Jafet Almendarez pleaded guilty in Buena Vista County District Court on June 22 to possession of a controlled substance — the Iowa charge that initially held him in Storm Lake after his arrest in May. According to a plea agreement, he received a two‑day jail sentence with credit for time served and a $430 fine.
Almendarez has since been extradited to Minnehaha County, South Dakota, where he faces multiple felony charges tied to a May 8 assault inside a Sioux Falls hotel room. Court documents describe a video in which Almendarez repeatedly strikes a fully nude man lying on the floor of the room. The victim appeared unresponsive in the recording but survived the attack and later contacted police, reporting that someone had forced their way into his room before he lost memory of what happened.
The charges filed in Minnehaha County include first‑degree burglary, first‑degree burglary at nighttime, two counts of aggravated assault, second‑degree robbery and grand theft from a person. Investigators say the video also shows Almendarez taking a wallet matching the victim’s description and wearing a hat later recovered inside the room.
The case first surfaced on May 16, when a man walked into the Storm Lake Police Department and reported that Almendarez told him he “had just killed a man in Sioux Falls.” The informant provided officers with the video, prompting Storm Lake police to immediately forward the information to Sioux Falls authorities. That led investigators to the Econolodge on North Cliff Avenue in Sioux Falls, where staff had recently found blood inside a room tied to the victim’s earlier report.
Storm Lake officers located Almendarez shortly after receiving the information and arrested him on the Iowa drug charge and the outstanding South Dakota warrants.
