Florida man recalls axe attack, knife stabbing in Orlando lured armed robbery incident
Deputies say man lured to armed robbery, attacked with axe
Florida authorities say a married couple is accused of luring a man to an apartment complex through Instagram messages and ambushing him in a hallway, leaving him seriously injured and stealing his phone, wallet and car.
ORLANDO, Fla. - An Orlando couple was arrested after they allegedly orchestrated inviting a man over to beat him up and rob him.
James Isaacs says he remembers the violent incident in snippets, but is left with scars on his body, reminding him of the trauma he experienced.
From staples in his head – healing a wound when someone hit him in the head with an axe – to stitches on his arm from a stab wound and bruises covering his body, Isaacs said he thought he was going to die.
From Instagram DM to armed robbery
What we know:
Isaacs recalled the incident as "absolutely terrifying" and "absolutely traumatizing," he told FOX 35's Marie Edinger.
Nicholas Lavallee, 20, and Anne Aksell, 29, were arrested and facing charges of robbery with a firearm, third degree grand theft of a motor vehicle, battery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
The Orange County Sheriff's office responded to an Orlando apartment complex on Dec. 30 to investigate a reported armed robbery.
Isaacs was stabbed in his upper right back and had a contusion to his head. The suspects took Isaacs' wallet, phone and keys to his jeep, the sheriff's office said in an arrest affidavit.
Isaacs first interacted with the couple after he followed Aksell on Instagram one year ago and started messaging with her on the social media platform about two weeks before the incident. At the time, Aksell's boyfriend – later confirmed to be Lavallee – messaged the victim on Aksell's account telling him to leave her alone.
On Dec. 29, around 11:30 p.m., Aksell messaged Isaacs, telling him that she and her boyfriend had broken up and invited him over, Isaacs told investigators. Aksell came down the stairs of the building wearing lingerie, Isaacs said. As they went up the stairs to her apartment, Isaacs said he heard a person – who was holding a gun – tell him to move. Isaacs identified this person as Lavallee, the affidavit said. Detectives later verified these events using a tenant's Ring video.
When Isaacs ran away, two men were blocking his path at the bottom of the stairs. One man was holding an axe and the other was holding a knife, Isaacs told detectives.
Isaacs said Lavallee told the two men to stop him, then one person grabbed him and put him in a chokehold while the other suspects hit him, took his keys, phone and wallet. Isaacs was also hit with the blunt edge of the axe on the head, the affidavit said.
Isaacs later ran away and asked a bystander to call 911. His car was later found by deputies, abandoned.
Incident captured on neighbor's Ring camera
Detectives inspected footage from a neighbor's Ring camera, which showed the suspects – a woman dressed in lingerie and a man in a black hooded sweatshirt – saying "We're doing it right here in this hallway," the affidavit said.
Another video showed a woman in lingerie walking toward the stairs with the victim behind her. The video also showed Isaacs running away and someone yelling, "get him." Screaming and yelling could also be heard in the background, the affidavit said.
Items found in search warrant
In a search warrant at Lavelle and Aksell's apartment, detectives found a black hoodie in the laundry hamper, a loaded gun in an unlocked safe in the closet and black lingerie and black boots – which a woman was seen wearing in the Ring video – in a closet.
Images, text messages reveal a meet-up
In the photos and text sent to FOX 35 from Isaacs, a bruise on his forehead and neck and several bruises down his back are visible.
Isaacs also had stitches from a long cut near his shoulder.
"He hit the top of my shoulder. He was aiming for my neck," Isaacs told Edinger.
Messages from a person identified as "Faun" – who detectives later determined as Aksell – detailed her asking Isaacs to come over, him telling her that he drives a Jeep and her saying she was going to put on an outfit for him.
Suspect claimed she was attacked
Aksell told investigators she invited the man over because she wanted to cheat on her "husband," and while she was walking him upstairs, he started grabbing her, and she feared that he was going to rape her. She claimed that Lavelle was going to "beat up" the man for grabbing her.
However, the detective said after pointing out that Aksell's timeline didn't make sense, she then admitted she and Lavelle invited Isaacs over with the intention of beating him up.
She identified herself, Isaacs and Lavelle from the Ring video.
Lavelle told investigators he wanted to "blow off some steam" and "teach this guy a lesson" after allegedly seeing messages in which the man disrespected his wife. He said it was his idea to invite Isaacs over and that he told Aksell to wear lingerie to make Isaacs more "relaxed," the arrest affidavit said.
Aksell claimed Lavelle told her where to go and what to do, the arrest affidavit said. She said she went upstairs to wait for Lavelle and saw Isaacs being chased by two men, but did not see Lavelle.
What we know:
The two other men allegedly involved have not been located at this time.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from Orange County courts.