Two Warsaw men have been arrested for robbery causing bodily injury and theft that occurred on Dec. 24, 2013, at Comfort Inn.

According to an affidavit filed by the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s office, Ritchie Hernandez Jr., 21, of 762 W. Eagle St., Warsaw, was attending a party at Comfort Inn on Christmas Eve when a conversation occurred revealing a man at the party had won $5,000 in a fantasy football contest.

Court documents say Hernandez approached the man and asked him to go into the bedroom to smoke a cigarette, when they entered the room, Jason Waikel, 35, 1041 N. Park Ave. Apt. C, Warsaw, followed and hit the victim with his fist several times in the head, and jammed his knee into the man’s face, causing both pain and visible injuries.

Waikel then allegedly pulled the victim’s hoodie over his head and ordered him to empty his pockets. The victim removed $6 and a PNC debit card and laid them on the bed where Hernandez took possession of them. The two men left the room and then Waikel returned and made the victim pull his shirt up to search him, telling the victim he had heard he was working for the police and that was why he had been battered.

The victim informed officer Brad Keller of the Warsaw Police Department that a female at the party told him she had overheard Hernandez and Waikel discussing robbing the victim earlier that evening. When the woman observed people running for the door, she knew the victim had been robbed and ran to the bedroom to discover the victim with his head held and covered in a hoodie by Waikel.

The woman demanded Waikel stop and was allegedly asked by Waikel, “Why are you complaining, he is working with the police?”

Hernandez was arrested for robbery aiding/inducing/causing with a surety bond of $100,000. Jason A. Waikel was arrested for robbery resulting in serious bodily injury with a surety bond of $100,000 on Friday, May 2.