Victim helps to capture his assailants
BY SEAN O'SULLIVAN • THE NEWS JOURNAL • OCTOBER 19, 2008
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A man who went to meet a prostitute early Saturday instead became the victim of a knifepoint robbery, according to New Castle County police.
The 50-year-old victim managed to take his assailants' knife and flatten a tire of the SUV that the two men and one woman used to flee, police said.
He then notified police.
Officers were then able to track the assailants' vehicle to a nearby motel and arrested Nicole Wilson, 23, of New Jersey Avenue in New Castle; Andre Shelton, 36, of Madison Street in Wilmington and Thomas Rogers, 39, of Pierson Place in New Castle.
All three were charged with robbery and conspiracy.
The incident started when the victim received a call from a woman he knew to be a prostitute early Saturday, who asked him to meet her at the Colonial Village North Apartments, said Cpl. Trinidad Navarro, a police spokesman.
When he arrived, sometime before 6:20 a.m., the victim reported the woman was with two other men, one of whom pulled a knife, police said.
After a struggle, the assailants got the victim's house and car keys -- apparently to prevent the victim from fleeing -- but the victim took away the knife and sounded the horn on his vehicle, Navarro said.
The two men and one woman then retreated to their dark-green GMC Yukon to flee, according to police, but the victim was able to puncture the rear passenger tire of the SUV as it departed.
Officer Steven Donahue, suspecting that the SUV could not travel far on three tires, searched surrounding motels and hotels. He later found a vehicle that matched the description, with a flat rear tire, at the Superlodge Hotel on Del. 9.
Police then waited until one of the suspects emerged from a hotel room and walked toward the SUV. He was then taken into custody. Officers found the other two suspects inside the hotel room and arrested them as well.
No bail information was available in that the three were awaiting arraignment Saturday.
Despite the fact that the victim acknowledged he was going to see a prostitute, he was not charged by police because in simply going to the location, he did not commit a crime, police said.
