Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold’s name appears in a Florida court order detailing the alleged orchestration of an armed robbery and kidnapping 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 granting the state’s motion for pretrial detention for Boakai Hilton, who is accused of planning the kidnapping and robberies during a car ride with Arnold. Authorities allege the plan was retaliation for two thefts at Arnold’s rental home in Largo, Florida, a few days earlier.
The Feb. 24 order states 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, according to online court records. Before the Feb. 4 incident, Arnold reported being the victim of two robberies in which thieves stole high-end bags, guns, jewelry, a cellphone and $100,000 in cash, according to a Largo Police Department report filed Feb. 3.
Arnold’s agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The order states Arnold, a 2024 first-round draft pick by the Lions, hired Yan Lopez as a private driver to 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 text messages show Arianna Del Valle, described in the document as 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 states.
Tenesaca arrived at the apartment with a friend, Soljah Anderson, while Lopez waited in the car, according to the order. Del Valle greeted them and said Randazzo was not home. Believing it was a joke, Tenesaca and Anderson began searching the home for Randazzo.
When Tenesaca opened a bedroom closet door, defendants Lyndell Hudson and Christion Williams jumped out, both armed, according to a motion from Hudson’s pretrial detention hearing. The motion states Hudson carried an AR-style rifle and Williams had a semiautomatic firearm. They allegedly “took Tenesaca and Anderson hostage in the bedroom, interrogating, beating and pistol-whipping them for the better part of an hour,” Murphy’s order states.
Lopez grew suspicious of the delay and entered the apartment. He was immediately pistol-whipped and taken to the bedroom with Tenesaca and Anderson, the document states. According to the motion from Hudson’s pretrial hearing, Del Valle then began a livestream on her phone to broadcast the encounter. Randazzo 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,” 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 order adds: “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.
The incident is alleged to have lasted about two hours, according to the motion granting pretrial detention for Hudson. At about 2 a.m., after wallets, phones, jackets, cash and jewelry totaling $6,260 were taken, the defendants escorted the victims out of the residence at gunpoint and forced them into their vehicles before fleeing, the motion states. One of the victims identified Hilton after he arrived at the apartment complex.
Hilton is the fifth person arrested in connection with the case.
Del Valle was arrested Feb. 4, the same day the alleged crimes occurred. Randazzo was arrested Feb. 6. Hudson and Williams were arrested Feb. 12. Hudson was detained by the U.S. Marshals Task Force working with the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, and Williams was arrested by the Tampa Police Department’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit working with the U.S. Marshals Task Force.
Del Valle and Randazzo each face three counts of armed robbery and three counts of kidnapping. Hudson and Williams each face three counts of armed robbery, three counts of armed kidnapping and one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Under Florida law, armed robbery carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison if a firearm is carried during the commission of the crime and up to life imprisonment if someone is seriously injured or killed. Kidnapping is punishable by up to life in prison.
The Lions declined to comment Thursday.
The criminal investigation involving Arnold is the latest case involving a professional athlete in Detroit. It comes eight months after The Detroit News reported that FBI agents had launched a wire fraud investigation into Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley related to gambling and prop bets.
That investigation highlighted Beasley’s personal financial issues. The News reported he had about $8 million in debt, including lawsuits from his Detroit landlord and the seizure of part of his Pistons paycheck.
After the investigation surfaced, the Pistons opted not to re-sign Beasley in free agency. No criminal charges have been filed against Beasley. His attorney has said he was cleared by federal authorities, and he is reportedly set to play for a team in Puerto Rico.