An out-of-state man and woman will stay jailed in an armed robbery that left man with lacerations to his face and leg.
Ian Riley and Arieal Holland were arrested after police investigated an armed robbery Friday on the Boardwalk.
Police were called to Missouri and the Boardwalk Friday for the report of an armed robbery, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
The man had a severe laceration on the left side of his face and another on his shin, the officer wrote.
He told police he was following a woman when a man came along and assaulted him with a black curved knife and fled with his black Reebok fanny pack containing $500 in cash, a cell phone, an eighth of marijuana and chips from Harrah's Atlantic City.
Police later arrested the couple, who was positively identified through a photo array, according to the affidavit.
Holland, 45, of Sarasota, Fla., was found with three wax folds of suspected heroin. Riley, 47, of Niagara Falls, N.Y., had two glass pipes with burnt ends suspected to have been used for drugs.
Both were charged with aggravated assault, armed robbery, conspiracy and weapons offenses.
Holland allegedly lured the victim so that Riley could then rob him, according to the allegations.
Defense attorney Christina Naughton successfully argued for the aggravated assault, armed robbery and weapons charges to be dropped against Holland, saying the victim told police only Riley attacked him.
Judge William Todd Miller left the conspiracy and a luring charge saying there was enough evidence that Holland was part of the plan to set up the victim.
Neither the fanny pack nor a knife were recovered, Riley's attorney pointed out, alleging that the victim may have fabricated the attack.
"This alleged victim is, for all intense and purposes, a homeless guy," attorney Tom Rossell told the judge. "(The victim) was probably making this story up."
He also said it didn't make sense that a couple who committed an armed robbery would have been found hours later in the same area without fleeing.
Riley lives in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Holland in Sarasota, Fla., according to the charges.
It was indicated during Holland's detention hearing that the woman knew the victim and may have had a prior dating relationship, Assistant Prosecutor Katrina Koerner said during Riley's hearing.
That was even more motive for there to be bad blood and the victim to have made up the allegations, Rossell said.
It was not the first time Riley and Holland were accused of committing a crime in Atlantic City.
Both were also arrested Aug. 6, and charged with joyriding and receiving stolen property.
Riley also has an outstanding warrant from Aug. 11 for trespassing under the Boardwalk-living/sleeping/eating, according to court records.
Both were ordered held in the Atlantic County Justice Facility as their case goes through court.
