Arrests made in abduction, robbery
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By Thomas Geyer | Friday, April 04, 2008 |
Three Davenport residents were arrested Wednesday in connection with the March 15 kidnapping and robbery of a shopper at the Hy-Vee store on Rockingham Road.
Tiffany Haessler, 20, Travis Lee Crotts, 24, and Juan Dontae Shelton, 24, each are charged with robbery first-degree and kidnapping second-degree. Both Crotts and Shelton also are charged with felon in possession of a firearm. In addition, Shelton faces an attempted burglary first-degree charge from an incident earlier on March 15.
According to arrest affidavits filed by Davenport Police Detective Bill Thomas: at about
6:35 a.m. March 15, Haessler, Crotts and Shelton drove into the parking lot of the Hy-Vee grocery store at 3019 Rockingham Road. They were driving around in a white van.
Haessler and the two men chose a victim at random.
Shelton, armed with a .22 caliber eight-shot revolver, approached the intended victim, a 20-year-old Davenport man, in the parking lot, but the would-be victim was able to go into the store.
Haessler and Shelton then entered the store and found the victim. Shelton told the victim he was armed and told the victim he was to go out and get in a white van.
Once in the van, they drove to a nearby alley and the victim was beaten and robbed of cash, a ball cap, Iowa ID, cigarettes and his cell phone. During the robbery, Crotts punched the victim twice.
After the ordeal, the victim was thrown out of the van, and he returned to his car, drove home and called police.
Surveillance video at the store caught the van on tape in the parking lot. Video inside the store caught Haessler and Shelton.
Haessler took the victim’s cell phone to a phone store and tried to sell it, according to the arrest affidavits. The employee at the phone store confronted Haessler about the phone being stolen and she left the store, leaving the cell phone behind.
Kidnapping second-degree and robbery first-degree each is a Class B felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of up to 25 years. A person convicted of kidnapping second-degree or robbery first-degree must serve at least 70 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Felon in possession of a firearm is a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of up to five years. Both Shelton and Crotts have felony theft convictions in Scott County.
Haessler and Crotts are being held in the Scott County Jail on $25,000 bond each, while Shelton is being held on $35,000 bond.
Shelton had allegedly attempted to burgle a home at 1 a.m. March 15. After kicking in the garage door, the owner yelled at Shelton and others who were with him. While running away, Shelton dropped the .22 caliber revolver he was carrying. He and his accomplices then went back and took the gun from the homeowner, according to police affidavits. Attempted burglary first-degree is a Class C felony that carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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