Richmond Police investigators have charged a man in
connection with this morning’s incident downtown.
At approximately
5:20 a.m., officers received a call of suspicious persons breaking into
vehicles in the parking deck of the Crown Plaza Hotel at 5th and
Canal streets. Officers investigated and found a male and a female inside a
vehicle and attempted to interview them.
But the male acted as if he had a weapon in a bag and as if
he were taking the woman hostage.
Out of an abundance of caution, officers requested SWAT and negotiator
assistance. The man surrendered without incident to police at 7:24 a.m.
That man, Jessie I. Whitaker, 28, of the 2300 block of
Mill Road
Though officers
initially believed the female was the victim of abduction, the initial investigation
revealed the two were acquaintances. The extent of her role in the incident
as a whole remains ongoing.
