HOT SPRINGS -- An Ashdown woman was arrested Friday evening on accusations that she lured a Hot Springs man to a motel room where an accomplice was waiting to rob him at gunpoint, police said.
Cassandra Jean Trafford, 19, was taken into custody around 5 p.m. and charged with a felony count of aggravated robbery, punishable by up to life in prison. She remained in custody Monday with no bail set and is scheduled to appear Aug. 15 in Garland County District Court.
According to an affidavit, the 28-year-old victim reported that a woman and a man had robbed him at gunpoint shortly after 2:30 p.m. Friday while he was visiting Trafford at the Econo Lodge Inn & Suites, 1204 Central Ave.
The victim told officers he met Trafford online. He said he went inside the motel room and was confronted by the man, who pointed a handgun at his head and ordered him to sit on the bed and empty his pockets, according to the affidavit.
The victim emptied his pockets, which included his cellphone, and the gunman told him to leave, the affidavit said. The victim left and went to the Hot Springs Police Department and reported the robbery.
Officers responded to the motel and found Trafford leaving the room, the affidavit said. The victim identified Trafford as the woman who had helped to rob him, and she was taken into custody.
When questioned by detectives, Trafford admitted to her involvement in the robbery, the affidavit said. She stated that the gunman goes by the name "Blue" but that she did not know his real name. She told police Blue told her to get the victim to the motel room.
Once the victim was inside, she told police, Blue robbed him at gunpoint and then told him to leave. She said Blue concealed his face with a blue bandana and a black hooded sweatshirt, according to the affidavit.
Trafford said she hid the victim's phone in a couch inside the motel office, and detectives found it there, the affidavit said. They also obtained a search warrant for the motel room and found a handgun and a bandana.
Trafford told detectives she met the victim through an advertisement on a website that the affidavit said is commonly used for prostitution.
State Desk on 08/09/2017