FOURTH UPDATE: Two more people have been arrested in connection with this robbery.Alice May Costa, 39, and her husband Jeffery Michael Costa, 37, both of 4520 Gulfstream Drive, East Naples, were arrested Monday and each charged with armed robbery and grand theft.
Reports say Alice Costa was the driver of the getaway vehicle. Investigators said Jeffery Costa was also present at the hotel when the robbery occurred. Both knew that a robbery was going to be committed, investigators said.
Investigators also said the couple used money that was stolen during the robbery to buy alcohol and drugs.
Earlier posts:
THIRD UPDATE: Luplow is being held at the Collier County jail on $125,000 bond on armed robbery and grand theft charges.
Sutton is being held in the jail on $23,000 bond on accessory after the fact and grand theft charges.
SECOND UPDATE: Deputies arrested a hotel employee and her boyfriend Friday in connection with this robbery.
Ryan M. Luplow, 31, who is homeless, was charged with armed robbery and grand theft. His girlfriend, Amanda Marie Sutton, 31, the night auditor at the hotel, was charged with accessory after the fact (armed robbery), failure to register as a convicted felon and obstruction of an officer.
Investigators said Luplow confessed to the robbery, telling them that Sutton had no prior knowledge of the crime.
Sutton, whose address not known on booking sheets, was charged with being an accessory after the fact because she initially told investigators that she did not know the robber’s identity.
Luplow was being held in the Lee County Jail this afternoon on an unrelated warrant out of Collier County and awaiting extradition.
UPDATE: Deputies are looking for the man in this surveillance photo for questioning in connection with this robbery.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Collier County Sheriff’s Office at 239-793-9300.
DATE: Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008
TIME: 1:35 a.m.
LOCATION: La Quinta Inn and Suites, 185 Bedzel Circle, East Naples
SUMMARY: Collier County sheriff’s deputies are investigating a robbery at a hotel near the Interstate 75 toll booth in East Naples in which the robber threatened the check-in clerk with a knife.
Reports say a man wearing a white hat and a white shirt entered the hotel, which is located near the intersection of Collier and Davis boulevards, after using his hands to pry open the front-entry sliding glass doors, which were locked.
The man then came into the lobby and approached the check-in desk, where he reached over the counter and grabbed the 31-year-old female clerk by the neck. He took out a large knife and demanded cash while holding onto the clerk’s shirt collar.
The clerk handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and the man ran out of the hotel through the front doors.
Deputies with a K-9 unit searched the large wooded area next to the hotel, but were unable to turn up a suspect.
