Gunfire in downtown hotel parking garage, other new information released related to incident yesterday

BATON ROUGE - Police arrested two 19-year-olds who attempted to rob a woman at gunpoint in a downtown Baton Rouge hotel parking lot early Saturday morning.

According to arrest records, 19-year-old Darius Washington and 19-year-old Jyron Robinson were arrested in connection with the incident, which occurred at the Belle of Baton Rouge Hotel and Casino around 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Most of the entire incident was captured on the hotel's security camera system.

Washington and Robinson reportedly approached a woman sitting in a vehicle in the hotel's parking garage when Washington asked her for a cigarette lighter. The victim refused to roll down the window or unlock the door, and both men walked away to a nearby stairwell.

While in the stairwell, both are reportedly seen setting down property which they stole from other vehicles in the parking garage. Those burglaries were also captured by security cameras.

Washington and Robinson then proceeded back to the woman's vehicle, when Washington pulled out a gun and demanded she open the door. He attempted to enter the driver and passenger doors while demanding her money, but all the doors were locked.

At the same time, an unknown car was approached, and the victim began flashing her lights and honking her horn to get attention. Both Washington and Robinson began to run from the car, when Washington turned around and fired a single shot at the car while running, according to arrest records.

The two retrieved the stolen property they left in the staircase and fled the parking garage.

Detectives with the BRPD reviewed the surveillance footage, which matched the victim's description of the events exactly. Washington and Robinson were then tracked on video making their way to a hotel room on the third floor of the Belle.

Officers were in the lobby of the hotel when two men matching the description of the suspects entered. They were both contacted and immediately taken into custody.

After searching the suspects, Washington was found with a black pistol and small bag of marijuana. Robinson was also found with a small bag of marijuana.

Washington and Robinson admitted to attempting to rob the female victim, and to the vehicle burglaries. Washington says he stole the gun from a vehicle he burglarized.

Washington was arrested and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for attempted robbery with a firearm, illegal use of a weapon, illegal carrying of a weapon, illegal possession of stolen firearms, possession of marijuana and illegal carrying of a weapon with a controlled substance. Robinson was arrested for attempted robbery and possession of marijuana.

Both were also booked for simple burglary and theft of a firearm for a burglary that occurred before the attempted robbery.