Six arrested in connection with Norfolk robberies

NORFOLK 

Police have charged six people, including two athletes from Norfolk State University, in connection with robberies that occurred within the city, according to a police news release. 

All six Norfolk residents were taken into custody Monday without incident, according to the release from Master Police Officer Chris Amos, department spokesman. The investigation continues to determine if additional charges are warranted. The six face a range of charges, with all being charged with robbery and conspiracy.

Those charged include Lyndell Maurice Gamble, 20, and Dwight E. Gamble, 21, both of the 5800 block of Frament Ave.; Brandon Monroe, 20, and Shannon Nicole Jordan, 20, each of the 1100 block of Georgetown Road; Jourdan Nicole Ellison, 18, of the 700 block of Park Ave.; and Mark Johnson, 19, of the 9500 block of 4th Bay St. 

In a statement released by the university this morning, athletics director Marty L. Miller said the school is aware of the allegations against the athletes and that, while officials understand they are innocent until proven guilty, they will not be allowed to participate in team-related activities while their court cases are pending.

"It is extremely unfortunate that this has happened," Miller said. "No decision on their future status as NSU student-athletes will be made until their cases are resolved. Our sympathy goes out to Mr. Monroe, Ms. Ellison and their families.”

Norfolk State's athletics Web site lists Monroe as a sophomore and Ellison as a freshman.

In an affidavit for a search warrant filed in Norfolk Circuit Court, police wrote that while investigating an April 3 robbery at hotel on North Military Highway, they spoke with Jourdan Ellison who told them that she and Shannon Jordan "were sent out to find two victims to rob."

"They met two military members at a bar and lured them back to the Americas Best Value Inn where they were robbed at gunpoint," Detective F. E. Curott  wrote in the affidavit. 

Ellison told police that Brandon Monroe, and Lyndel Gamble, who goes by the nickname "Little Folk," and a third unidentifed male whose nickname is "Little Man," had committed the robberies, Curott wrote in the affidavit.  

Police arrested Brandon Monroe a short while later and he told them "he was just the driver during the robbery," Curott wrote.

On Monday, police went to an apartment in the 5800 block of Frament St. where they arrested Lyndel Gamble and Dwight Gamble.

Gamble told police that there was a gun in the apartment, police wrote. During the arrests, an investigator noticed a shotgun in a hall closet and various cell phones in that "no one identified as owning," the affidavit says.

Police wrote that two men have been implicated in other robberies along Military Highway. During the robberies, they wore police raid jackets, displayed police badges and pretended to be officers. 

The request for a search warrant was made for the Frament Street apartment. The inventory of the items seized had not been filed in court on Monday.  

Monroe, a starter on the basketball team, had charges of armed robbery dropped in July 2008 about two months after he was arrested following an incident on the Old Dominion University campus. At the time, Monroe’s attorney, Michael Fasanaro, described the case against his client as simple mistaken identity.

He had been arrested May 7, 2008, and charged with two counts of robbery and illegal use of a firearm after a man and woman were robbed of a wallet, handbag, cell phone and credit cards on April 28, 2008. A spokeswoman for the Norfolk commonwealth’s attorney’s office said the evidence did not support prosecution of Monroe.

Pilot staff writer Rich Radford contributed to this story.