Broward pair face charges linked to armed robbery at East Naples hotel

Collier County detectives this month issued arrest warrants for a Broward County man and woman suspected of robbing seven people at gunpoint inside an East Naples hotel room in March.

Henry Ronald Mitchell, 30, and Wendy Gibbons, 30, face charges of armed robbery.

Deputies said Mitchell forced his way into a room at the Comfort Inn on Tollgate Boulevard near Interstate 75, stole cash and jewelry from the people inside and forced them to strip.

Gibbons is listed as an accomplice in a criminal complaint filed in Collier County court. 

Mitchell and Gibbons were found in Broward County on Aug. 2, according to the Collier County Sheriff's Office. Gibbons was transferred to the Naples Jail Center and booked on Wednesday.

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Mitchell is in custody in Broward, pending the conclusion of a grand theft trial, according to arrest records. 

According to Collier Sheriff's Office reports, the hotel guests told investigators they were part of a setup crew working for the opening of a Texas Roadhouse restaurant on Collier Boulevard. The evening of March 19, the group had gathered in a hotel room and when two people were on their way out, a man wearing a ski mask and holding a gun forced them back in, a criminal complaint states.

One of the women inside the room hid in a closet and sent a message to a co-worker staying in another room, saying they were being robbed and asking him to call police.

The man found the woman in the closet and ordered everyone to turn out the lights, take off their clothes and get on he floor, officials said. He demanded they give him their cash, valuables and driver's licenses, reports state.

The man told the group he had their licenses and threatened that he would find them if they told anyone, officials said. 

A hotel employee knocked on the door, and the man told someone in the group to put his clothes back on and answer the door, reports state. The man who answered the door ran out of the room, yelling, "He's got a gun." The robber ran out of the room shortly afterward, reports state. 

Detectives were able to get an image of a male and female suspect from hotel surveillance video and neighboring businesses. The man is seen going into the hotel through a hallway door that requires a key card. Investigators think the woman, later identified as Gibbons, went into the hotel and left the side door propped open so the man could get in, the complaint states.

On March 29, detectives issued a bulletin to law enforcement agencies with photos of the woman. 

A detective in Boca Raton contacted Collier detectives shortly after the bulletin was issued and told them he knew the woman in the photo as Gibbons. According to Boca Raton authorities, Gibbons helped Mitchell with a similar armed robbery at a Broward County hotel March 23. The two were arrested hours after the crime was reported, officials said.

Boca Raton authorities obtained a search warrant for a white Chevrolet Malibu registered to Gibbons. Investigators determined Gibbons’ car was used during both robberies.

Boca Raton officials told Collier County detectives they found a ski mask, handgun, gloves and personal items belonging to the seven people who were robbed at the Comfort Inn, the complaint states.

During a second search, officials found the clothing Gibbons and Mitchell were described as wearing the day of the Comfort Inn robbery, the complaint states.

Gibbons was held at the Naples Jail Center, with bail set at $25,000.