ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Two people have been arrested for their alleged roles in the planned ambush of a victim at an Orange County apartment complex on Monday, according to the sheriff’s office.
Nicholas Lavallee, 20, and Anne Aksell, 29, are described in their respective arrest affidavits as a couple.
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They’re accused of working with at least two other people to rob and batter the victim, whom the couple reportedly enticed to the apartment complex with a series of false messages from Aksell’s Instagram in what deputies said they learned was a tag-team effort between Lavallee and Aksell.
It was noted in the documents that the victim had begun messaging Aksell about two weeks prior, during which time a person identifying himself as Aksell’s partner intervened and told the victim to stop reaching out, which he did, according to investigators. That was the case until the victim began to receive the false messages on Dec. 29 which sought to convey Aksell was newly single and looking for company at her apartment, deputies said.
The victim arrived at the apartments on Emily Loop around 11:30 p.m., telling deputies that he then followed Aksell up the stairs after she descended them dressed in lingerie. As they were about to reach the third floor, the victim said he encountered a man with a gun telling him not to move, adding he recognized the individual as Aksell’s partner.
When the victim ran back down the stairs, there were two other males waiting for him — one holding an ax and the other holding a knife — according to the affidavits. Someone then grabbed the victim and put him into a chokehold as the others started to strike him, one of whom went through the victim’s pockets and took his wallet, phone, and keys, the affidavits state.
The victim got free and ran, yelling for help while being chased by the two from the bottom of the stairs, deputies said. After slowing down and realizing the others had also slowed, the victim told investigators that he asked the pair what they were going to do, at which point the ax-wielding male allegedly hit the victim in the head with the blunt end and caused the victim to fall.
Lavallee and Aksell were arrested Wednesday to face charges of robbery with a firearm, grand theft of a motor vehicle, battery, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, records show. The victim’s car was found abandoned in the 9000 block of Nelson Park Circle, the sheriff’s office said.
Investigators reported surveillance footage from the apartment complex corroborated the victim’s story and contradicted Aksell’s version of events, in which she claimed Lavallee wanted to beat the victim up because the victim had started “grabbing her.”
“When I pointed out that her timeline did not make sense, she finally admitted she and Nicholas invited him over with the intention of beating him up,” the affidavits state.
Lavallee and Aksell were both being held on no bond at the time of this report, records show.