A strange story emerged on Monday that potentially involves, indirectly, Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold.
The item from Kylie Jones of Fox13News.com paints a confusing picture of allegations and counter-allegations that resulted in a Tuesday pretrial detention hearing for two men — Lyndell Hudson and Christion Williams.
A detective testified during the hearing that Hudson is part of Arnold's security team, and that Williams is believed to be Arnold's cousin. (It's unknown whether that claim is accurate.) Hudson and Williams were, per the report, arrested for armed robbery and kidnapping in connection with an apparent attempt to recover property that allegedly had been stolen from a home rented by Arnold. The missing items include high-end bags, guns, a cellphone, and $100,000 in cash.
Three men allegedly were lured to an apartment by two women, at which time Hudson and Williams allegedly beat them and held them at gunpoint.
"They are battering the three victims, and they are pistol whipping them, and they are taking a handgun and sticking it into the mouth of a victim," the detective testified. The detective added that the men who allegedly inflicted the beating were demanding the return of the stolen property.
Lawyers for Hudson and Williams tried to poke holes in the charges, arguing that it was a messy stew of accusations.
"So it's the suspects blaming the alleged victims," Hudson's attorney asked the detective in court. "The alleged victims [blame] the suspects, but here today, you have chosen to believe the alleged victims, solely on hearsay from both sides?"
The presiding judge later addressed the hearsay issue.
"There is a lot of hearsay, and I understand the defense argument regarding the necessity of the credibility of the alleged victims," Judge Christopher Sabella later said. "The key here though, the problem for the defense is that the exhibits that include the text messages corroborate the hearsay in this case, and they do show what appears to be a lengthy incident, an hour and a half incident where three victims were being held hostage at gunpoint and were being threatened. . . .
"I am not finding them guilty today," Sabella added. "It's a very different standard, but the text messages are very compelling in conjunction with what the detective has indicated."
Sabella granted the prosecution's motion for pretrial detention, denying bond for Hudson and Williams. The current charges are robbery with a firearm, kidnapping with possession of a firearm, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
The case seems like the incident that ultimately resulted in the Nevada arrest and conviction of O.J. Simpson. Basically, one or more thefts allegedly happened from the home rented by Arnold, and two men with possible connections to Arnold allegedly used extreme measures in an effort to recover the stolen goods.
The overriding question, obviously, is whether Arnold will be accused in connection with the effort to locate and obtain the stolen items. For now, Arnold faces no accusations whatsoever.