The new year got off to a rough start for three brothers who police say got away with kidnapping and robbing a couple on New Year's Eve in south Minneapolis, but wound up being arrested early the next morning when police turned up at their house to break up a fight.

Anthony Deshawn Wilkes, 18, and Tommy Lee Wilkes, 22, were being held without bail at the Hennepin County jail Friday night pending charges against them. Their brother, a 17-year-old juvenile whose name has not been released, also remains in custody. The men, who are from Minneapolis, could face felony charges of aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Ali Ali, 26, said that the brothers were apparently out looking for cars to break into when they came at him and his date with a hammer and threatened them with a gun, which he never saw but believes they had.

According to Ali and Minneapolis police, the incident began about 9:45 p.m., when Ali and his date, a 20-year-old Minneapolis woman, were on their way to catch a movie and walked to a friend's car in an underground parking garage at an apartment complex at 2910 E. Franklin Av.

At one point, the men allegedly forced Ali into the trunk of a stolen car, then threatened to kill him, toss his body into the frigid Mississippi River and rape his companion, Ali and police said Friday. While Ali was in the trunk of the car -- with his cell phone -- he dialed 911.

Ali said he wasn't scared and kept quiet until the youngest of the three men talked of sexually assaulting his date.

"They said 'I'm gonna stop, kill you and take your girl, too,'" he said. "I said 'I don't care, kill me, but you're not gonna take my girl without me.' "

During the hourlong ordeal, the men drove the couple around to pick up money and gas up their stolen car. After being frustrated that Ali's bank card only allowed him to withdraw $300 -- half of what they'd hope to get -- they drove to one of Ali's friends' homes to get more, Ali and police said. Once there, the friend grew suspicious and called 911; Ali and his captor returned to the car, where his date and the other men were waiting.

"They wanted to throw me in the river. One guy tried to say something about rape, while another one was talking about killing me," Ali said. "One of them, I think he was the oldest, said " 'No, I don't want blood on my hands.' "

The brothers' scheme fell apart without police coming to the rescue because the car stalled on I-94 in St. Paul between the Cretin and Snelling Avenue exits and the men fled on foot, leaving Ali and his date in the back seat. They called police for help.

Minneapolis police Sgt. Jesse Garcia said the suspects remained on the run until Minneapolis police responded to a domestic disturbance at 2:40 a.m. on the 900 block of 29th Avenue S. The brothers were fighting one another, and one of them was armed with a knife. Officers, still searching for suspects from the earlier robbery, noted that they matched the descriptions, and found Ali's cash and property.

Just as the robbery was brazen, Garcia said, so was the infighting that led to the arrests.

"How's that old saying go -- that there's no honor among thieves?" Garcia said. "These three characters started fighting amongst each other and basically brought the police to themselves."

A fourth brother, Michael Wilkes, 19 was arrested New Year's Eve on suspicion of aggravated assault in an unrelated incident.

Abby Simons • 612-673-4921