Court: Housekeeper held hostage during armed robbery at Hawthorn Suites

Three men held a housekeeper hostage Thursday night during an armed robbery at the Hawthorn Suites hotel, according to testimony Friday morning in Columbus Recorder’s Court.

Jimmy Ray Walker, 18, Marquell Edsean Watson, 21, and Domanique Daquan Brown, 20, pleaded not guilty to all charges stemming from the incident.

Cpl. Donna Baker with with the Columbus Police Department Robbery/Homicide Division said she responded to the hotel at 3662 Victory Drive, where she spoke to the front desk clerk and housekeeper about the armed robbery that occurred between 6:45 and 7:40 p.m.

Baker said she was told that a black man entered the business at 6:40 p.m. and inquired about the hotel before leaving in a gold four-door Buick.

“She reported to an officer that the actions of that suspect scared her,” police testified.

Baker said the housekeeper was leaving work 15 minutes later when a black man aimed a gun at her and forced her back inside the business, where he continued to hold her at gunpoint as he demanded money from the cash register. The gunman then fled the store with $311 in cash.

Baker said she was in the area later that night when she noticed a gold four-door Buick at the nearby Waffle House with three individuals inside. She attempted to approach the vehicle for a closer look, but it left the parking and headed east on Victory Drive.

“It was then that I continued to follow that vehicle, which pulled into the Liberty gas station on Fort Benning Road,” the officer testified.

The defendants were identified as the occupants of the vehicle with Brown, who owns the vehicle, serving as the driver. Police said they found a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in the vehicleand also cash totaling $311 in the suspects’ possession as if they had split the money stolen from the hotel.

“Mr. Walker and Mr. Watson both admitted to their involvement in the armed robbery,” Baker testified. “Mr. Brown advised that he didn’t know what the two individuals were doing as they were at the hotel. He did admit that he picked them up from the area of the hotel.”

Walker, Watson and Brown were charged with two counts of armed robbery and one count each of false imprisonment, kidnapping and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Judge Michael Cielinski didn’t set a bond on the armed robbery charges but granted bonds totaling $100,000 on the other charges.

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 1:23 PM with the headline "Court: Housekeeper held hostage during armed robbery at Hawthorn Suites."