Lions star defender Terrion Arnold will not remain in police custody as he awaits trial on kidnapping and armed robbery charges.
On Monday, Arnold was indicted on felony charges of kidnapping and armed robbery for allegedly orchestrating a plot where he stands accused of using teenage girls, 18 and 19, to lure unsuspecting victims with the promise of sexual relations. Prosecutors sought to have Arnold remain in police custody during the trial. However, a Florida judge set a $1 million bail for the star corner with the condition that he must remain at home or at work.
The prosecution then asked the court to require Arnold to wear an ankle bracelet. But that request was denied after the player’s attorneys argued he would be unable to play football while wearing the monitoring device.
The alleged kidnapping and robbery plot began after Arnold wrongly suspected his driver and his driver’s hairdresser of stealing from him.
According to Tampa Bay Police Department detective Scott Barnett, who testified at Arnold’s bail hearing on Monday, the former Alabama Crimson Tide star had his girlfriend, Arianna Del Valle, lure the victim to a booty call involving her and her friend, 19-year-old Jasmine Randazzo.
“They are trying to set him up, and he’s trying to pay us for it,” Del Valle texted Randazzo of Arnold’s alleged scheme, according to messages read by Detective Barnett in court.
Specifically, Arnold suspected his driver and the driver’s friend of stealing $250,000 worth of property from an Airbnb in Largo, Florida, on February 1.
According to police, Arnold’s original intent was to lure the victims to a hotel room. However, Randazzo and Del Valle argued that the large number of cameras at hotels would make the plot impractical.
Instead, the decision was made to spring the trap at Randazzo’s apartment, since the hairdresser was already enamored by her and knew the apartment’s location.
As the New York Post reports, “Three of Arnold’s buddies, armed with guns including an AR-15, allegedly pistol-whipped and beat the hairdresser and two of his friends at the girls’ apartment on the night of Feb. 3 and into the morning of the 4, the detective testified.
“Del Valle used FaceTime to show the whole assault to Arnold and others driving in a car, and also took instructions from one of Arnold’s pals in a simultaneous text message, Barnett claimed.
“Around the same time, Del Valle side-texted Randazzo, “I’m scared. I hope they don’t kill them,” Barnett said.”
As Detective Barnett testified, “They thought they were going to be killed and stuffed in their car and taken somewhere or taken somewhere and killed there.”
Arnold’s attorneys, who have entered a not guilty plea, claim there is no evidence that their client orchestrated the attack and that one of his co-defendants was actually the mastermind.
Complicating matters for the defense is the fact that Randazzo and Del Valle have both pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the prosecution against Arnold.
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