Liam Payne Was Trying to Escape from Balcony When He Fell to His Death

Liam Payne was trying to escape from his hotel when he fell to his death, and the hotel knew he was threatening to use the balcony as the means to escape, but left him by himself ... this according to witnesses, the police report, a 911 call and surveillance video.

Here's what we know. Liam hated being locked up in hotel rooms ... something he had to deal with during his time in One Direction. He had used the balcony escape plan before, most recently in mid-September, when sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Liam's bodyguard was concerned he might have been on a drug binge and forced him inside a room in a Florida rental house. Liam escaped from a balcony, using a garden hose to reach the ground.

Look at the surveillance screenshots from the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires. Liam, who was disruptive in the lobby and clearly under the influence, is splayed out as 3 hotel workers carry him to his room, minutes before he fell to his death. Liam is clearly conscious -- although we blurred his face, he is holding his head upright.

And, just 2 minutes before he was carried, Liam was standing upright in the lobby.

When the hotel employees got Liam to his room, he struggled with them ... clearly not wanting to go inside.

Nevertheless, the hotel used a master key to enter the room, put Liam inside and, according to the police report obtained by TMZ, they removed a mirror from the wall directly outside his room, presumably so he wouldn't damage it.

It's obvious Liam told the employees he did not want to be in the room and would use the balcony as an escape, because one of those employees called 911 minutes later and said they feared he might use the balcony and accidentally hurt himself. According to the 911 transcript, the hotel employee said, "I don't know whether his life may be in danger. He is in a room with a balcony, and, well, we're a little afraid ..."

So the hotel employees left Liam alone, inside the room ... where he fell to his death. It's apparent he was trying to escape via the balcony, because when his body was found he had a bag strapped around his shoulder ... which was not on him when he was carried from the lobby.

Police also found a hat on or near Liam's body. The hat is telling ... he had to have put the hat on inside the room, because it wasn't on in the lobby.

It seems Liam was trying to get from the 3rd floor balcony to the 2nd floor balcony, and then jump a short distance to the ground. This theory is supported by the police report, which says 2 days after Liam's death, a hotel employee went to the 2nd-floor room right below Liam's and discovered a brown leather bag (not the bag strapped to his shoulder) on the balcony with a note inside that said "for Liam," along with various pills and a bottle of Jack Daniel's. The report says the bag belonged to Liam. So presumably, he dropped the bag down to the 2nd floor balcony before attempting to drop down himself.

The coroner says Liam may have been unconscious when he fell, but he was clearly conscious when he strapped the bag to his shoulder inside his room and walked to the balcony.

One source with direct knowledge believes Argentinian authorities are trying to protect the hotel, and that's why they've gone after 3 people -- a friend, a waiter and a then-hotel employee who allegedly supplied Liam with drugs. The source believes the hotel bears responsibility for allegedly caring more about disruption in the lobby and protecting hotel property than caring about Liam's safety.