Lions' Terrion Arnold tied to robbery, kidnapping in court order

DETROIT — Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold's name has surfaced in a Florida court order detailing the orchestration of an armed robbery and kidnapping that took place shortly after midnight on Feb. 4 in Tampa.

The allegations mentioning Arnold were included in a seven-page order from Hillsborough County Circuit Judge J. Logan Murphy that granted the state's motion for a pretrial detention against Boakai Hilton, who is alleged to have planned the kidnapping and robberies during a car ride with Arnold in retaliation for a pair of thefts that occurred at Arnold's rental home in Largo, Fla., a few days prior.

The Feb. 24 order stated that the armed robbery and kidnapping were a direct result of "Arnold and his friends" deciding to "take matters into their own hands" after Arnold's rental home was robbed twice. "While traveling in a car with Arnold back from Tallahassee, Hilton orchestrates the ambush," according to the order.

Arnold, 22, has not been charged or arrested by authorities, according to online court records. Prior to the incident on Feb. 4, Arnold was a victim of two robberies, in which thieves stole high-end bags, guns, jewelry, a cellphone, and $100,000 in cash, according to a police report filed by Arnold with the Largo Police Department on Feb. 3.

Arnold's agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The order stated that Arnold, a 2024 first-round pick by the Lions, hired a man named Yan Lopez to be his private driver and transport Arnold and his friends to and from the Airbnb he rented in Largo. Lopez, who regularly drives for celebrities, introduced his friend, Daniel Tenesaca, to Arnold, "with hopes that Tenesaca could ride his coattails to become a celebrity barber."

Arnold's Airbnb was robbed twice while Lopez was working for him and his friends, according to the order. "Arnold began to suspect that Lopez may have had a hand in the burglaries," Murphy wrote. "And though they had reported the theft to Largo authorities, Arnold and his friends decided to take matters into their own hands."

The order alleges that text messages show Arianna Del Valle, who is said in the document to be Arnold's girlfriend, instructing Jasmine Randazzo to lure Tenesaca, who had expressed romantic interest in Randazzo, to her apartment in Tampa. Del Valle allegedly told Randazzo to "act as bait ... with promises that Arnold and his friends would pay Randazzo for doing so," the order said.

Tenesaca arrived at the apartment with a friend, Soljah Anderson, while the third victim, Lopez, waited in the car, according to the order. Del Valle greeted them and said Randazzo was not home; thinking it was a joke, Tenesaca and Anderson began searching the home for Randazzo.

Upon opening a closet door in a bedroom, defendants Lyndell Hudson and Christion Williams jumped out, both holding weapons — Hudson was armed with an AR rifle, and Williams had a semi-automatic firearm, according to the motion from a pretrial detention hearing for Hudson — and "took Tenesaca and Anderson hostage in the bedroom, interrogating, beating, and pistol-whipping them for the better part of an hour," Murphy's order said.

Lopez grew suspicious of the wait and entered the apartment before immediately being pistol-whipped and taken to the bedroom with Tenesaca and Anderson, the document said. At this point, the motion from Hudson's pretrial hearing said Del Valle began a livestream on her phone to broadcast the interactions. Randazzo, who originally invited the victims over, joined the stream to "watch and direct actions against the victims."

"There, one of the defendants stuck the barrel of his firearm into Lopez's mouth, demanding he return the stolen property and Arnold's phone. Before the victims left, the co-defendants took their phones and wallets," Judge Murphy wrote. "This was all done ostensibly to get Lopez, Tenesaca and Anderson to admit that they stole the property from the AirBNB, which they never do."

The judge's order added: "Text messages between Del Valle and Randazzo show that Del Valle has been instructed to hold the victims in the bedroom until 'terrion [a]nd Boakai [Hilton] and Fredo [another friend]' arrive at the apartment complex."

"As soon as the victims are in the bedroom, Hilton instructed Del Valle to video the encounter on FaceTime, and Hilton asks her multiple times to turn the camera and get closer so that he can see and hear the kidnapping," according to the order.

In total, the violent incident is alleged to have lasted about two hours, according to the motion that granted pretrial detention for Hudson. At approximately 2 a.m., after the defendants had stolen wallets, phones, jackets, cash and jewelry from the victims, totaling $6,260, they escorted the victims out of the residence at gunpoint and forced them into their vehicles before fleeing the scene, but not before Boakai arrived and was identified by one of the victims.

Hilton is the fifth person known to have been arrested in connection with the incident.

Del Valle was arrested on Feb. 4, the same day the charges occurred, and Randazzo was arrested on Feb. 6. Hudson and Williams were both arrested on Feb. 12; Hudson was detained by the U.S. Marshals Task Force working in conjunction with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, while Williams was arrested by the Tampa Police Fugitive Apprehension unit, working in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Task Force.

Del Valle and Randazzo are each charged with three counts of armed robbery and three counts of kidnapping. Hudson and Williams are each charged with three counts of armed robbery, three counts of armed kidnapping and a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

The penalty in Florida for armed robbery ranges from 10 years in prison for carrying a gun in the commission of that crime to life imprisonment if someone is seriously injured or killed. Kidnapping is punishable by up to life in prison.

The Lions declined to comment on the matter on Thursday.

The criminal investigation involving Arnold is the latest involving a professional athlete in Detroit and is emerging eight months after The Detroit News reported FBI agents had launched a wire fraud investigation of Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley related to gambling and prop bets.

The gambling probe shed light on Beasley’s personal financial problems, which The News reported included $8 million in debts, such as being sued twice by his Detroit landlord and having part of his Pistons paycheck seized.

After the gambling investigation surfaced, the Pistons decided against signing Beasley in free agency. No criminal charges have been filed against Beasley, whose attorney said he had been cleared by the feds, and he is reportedly going to play for a team in Puerto Rico.

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Staff Writer Robert Snell contributed.