BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — Two men have been charged with robbing a hotel at gunpoint in February in Brooklyn Center.
United States District Attorney Erica H. MacDonald announced Wednesday Keanu Dewone Ross, 28, and Antoinette Deniece Mae Dobyne, 28, have been charged for the roles in the armed robbery.
Both men were charged with aiding and abetting interference with commerce by robbery. Ross was also charged with firing his weapon during a crime and possessing a firearm as a felon.
According to the allegations in the criminal complaint, The Brooklyn Park Police Department was called to a Super 8 Hotel in Brooklyn Center at around 2:30 a.m. on February 14 for reports of an armed robbery. When officers arrived, a hotel employee told authorities that two men with guns told him to get on the ground and took his cell phone, car keys and cash from the business. The men then told the employee to run from the scene.
As the employee was fleeing the scene on foot, he said he heard multiple gun shots, according to the complaint. Officers say they recovered a casing at the scene.
Surveillance footage from the hotel corroborated the employee's statement, and showed the two men running from the scene toward an SUV. The men are then seen running from the SUV after it got stuck in a snowbank.
Police located Dobyne in the SUV and later that day, Ross called police to ask about the release of the SUV, saying he was the boyfriend of the vehicle owner. The complaint says Ross also told police his wallet and ID were in the middle glove box, which was discovered in a subsequent search of the vehicle.
According to the complaint and law enforcement affidavit, Ross was detained during a traffic stop at around 1:30 p.m. on February 14 in Minneapolis. Officers confiscated the vehicle and found a semiautomatic pistol on Ross's person. Forensic evidence showed the casing from the robbery scene came from the pistol.
Following their first court appearance, Ross was ordered to remain in custody pending a formal detention hearing on Monday, July 20.
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