Man tied up, stripped and beaten with cinderblocks during nightclub robbery, prosecutors say

PASADENA, Texas (KTRK) -- A man and woman were arrested after prosecutors say they tied up, stripped, and beat a man while trying to rob a nightclub.

Andre Partee and Jasmine Rohne are each charged with two counts of aggravated robbery.

Robert Cerny says he was working on cars behind Tropical Night Club on Spencer Highway Sunday night when the suspects approached with a laser-equipped gun.

He said he was struck over the head several times with the butt of the gun.

"When they came up and struck me with the gun, I think they expected me to go down. You know what I mean? But, like, he was, like, real thin and wiry...so he didn't really have power when he hit me, so it didn't work," Cerny said.

Cerny said the couple stripped him of his shirt, then used his belt and shoelaces to tie his wrists before forcing him to lie facedown on the ground.

He said the two beat his legs with cinderblocks before piling the cinderblocks on his back.

"They had about four or six cinder blocks, and then the girl would sit on top of it," he said.

He said the man held a gun to his head and repeatedly told him he would shoot him before both suspects returned to their original mission: robbing the nightclub.

A surveillance camera captured one of them crouching behind a wheelbarrow while holding bolt cutters.

Cerny said to cut power to the business, which prompted a woman working there to investigate.

"She goes around front saying, 'What's going on?' They came out on her with a gun," Cerny said.

Police say the suspects stole cash and were in the middle of making their getaway when officers arrived.

Both are due in court on Tuesday morning.