Three months after a man was beaten and robbed of $12,000 inside his Buckhead hotel room, four people believed to be responsible for the heist were arrested in Ohio, authorities said.
The armed robbery occurred April 5 at the Kimpton Sylvan Hotel along East Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta police said previously. The victim told officers he was beaten with baseball bats after several men broke into his room, and that the suspects made off with $12,000 in cash and several pieces of jewelry after forcing him to open his safe at gunpoint.
The victim, who was staying on the seventh floor, told police he was in his room with two women about 6 a.m. when five men broke in wearing masks and all-black clothing, according to the incident report. He told investigators one of the men brandished a gun and hit him with it, then the other men started beating him with bats.
After being asked, “Where’s the stuff?” the man said he gave the suspects the code to the safe, according to the report. His Gucci bag, which contained his wallet, was also taken, he told officers.
The victim didn’t have any visible injuries when police arrived at the hotel room, and told officers he did not need medical attention.
On Wednesday, police announced the arrests of four suspects in the case, two men and two women. They were identified as Gabriella Romero, 18; Heidy Espinoza, 18; Michael Billingsley, 20; and Marquis Abrams, 21.
Romero and Espinoza were taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service in Ohio and have already been extradited to Georgia, Atlanta police said in a news release. Abrams was already in custody at an Ohio jail and Billingsley was recently arrested by police in Ohio. Both men are awaiting extradition to Atlanta, authorities said.
A fifth suspect, Tremone Holloway, was killed during an attempted robbery in Clayton County before warrants could be issued, Atlanta police said.
All four people arrested in Ohio face charges of armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the April hotel robbery.
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