Three people have been arrested and another is wanted by law enforcement after an alleged confrontation in a hotel room over stolen drugs and money.
Rudy Bongolan, 44, Rachelle B. Brown, 27, Clinton D. Starnes, 28, and Robert C. Dedrick, 30, are facing multiple felony charges, including kidnapping, robbery, assault, vehicle theft and burglary for an alleged incident in which several people were held hostage and a room ransacked at the Duck Inn in Soldotna, according to documents filed with the court.
On Jan. 30, Alaska State Troopers received a report that a kidnapping and robbery had taken place at the hotel earlier that day. A man told troopers that Starnes and Bongolan had held him and a woman at knifepoint, searched their room and interrogated them about a safe that had been stolen from Brown’s apartment the day before, according to a trooper affidavit.
Brown allegedly found her safe missing from her apartment in the early morning hours of Jan. 29. When Brown told Dedrick about the theft, he told Brown he would contact a friend to hunt down the people who stole it, according to a trooper affidavit. Brown later told troopers that the safe contained between $500 and $1000 and between 1 and 6 grams of heroin, according to the affidavit.
Bongolan, whom Brown claimed not to know, allegedly called Brown and told her he had found the person responsible for the robbery, according to the affidavit. Brown and another man then headed to the Duck Inn where she found three people with Starnes and Bongolan, according to the affidavit.
When Brown arrived at the hotel, she began yelling at the person she believed was responsible for stealing her safe. The two other people in the hotel room were ordered into the bathroom, according to the affidavit.
Fearing he would be assaulted, the man accused of stealing the safe fled the room on foot, according to the affidavit. He told troopers that he hid in the back of a pickup near a gas station and then ran to another gas station where he was assisted by a driver. He eventually connected with the two others who had been held at the hotel room and contacted the Alaska State Troopers, according to the affidavit.
The alleged victims told troopers that Bongolan and Starnes had searched the room, confiscated their cell phones and searched one of their cars. Starnes also kept the keys to the car, which was later reported stolen, according to the affidavit.
Brown, Starnes and Dedrick were subsequently arrested. The court issued an arrest warrant for Bongolan.
A police search of Brown’s apartment turned up $1831 in cash, more than 1 gram of suspected heroin, digital scales and plastic bags, according to the trooper affidavit.
The man Brown accused of stealing the safe told troopers he had purchased heroin from Brown about 50 times — at her apartment and occasionally at a Kenai gas station, according to the trooper affidavit.
Starnes is facing one count of kidnapping, an unclassified felony; one count of first-degree armed robbery, a class A felony; one count of first-degree burglary, a class B felony; third-degree assault, a class C felony; first-degree vehicle theft, a class C felony; fourth-degree theft, a class B misdemeanor; and violating conditions of release, a class B misdemeanor. Starnes is facing charges in five other criminal cases.
Bongolan is facing one count of kidnapping, an unclassified felony; one count of first-degree armed robbery, a class A felony; one count of first-degree burglary, a class B felony; one count of third-degree assault, a class C felony; one count of first-degree vehicle theft, a class C felony; and fourth-degree theft, a class B misdemeanor.
Dedrick is facing one count of kidnapping, an unclassified felony; one count of first-degree armed robbery, a class A felony; one count of first-degree burglary, a class B felony; one count of third-degree assault, a class C felony; one count of first-degree vehicle theft, a class C felony; and one count of fourth-degree theft, a class B misdemeanor.
Brown is facing one count of kidnapping, an unclassified felony; one count of first-degree armed robbery, a class A felony; one count of first-degree burglary, a class B felony; one count of third-degree assault, a class C felony; one count of first-degree vehicle theft, a class C felony; one count of fourth-degree theft, a class B misdemeanor; and one count of misconduct involving a controlled substance, a class B felony.
