Background: News footage of the Monroe, N.C. storage unit where a man claims Robin Deaton locked him for days (WBTV). Inset: Robin Deaton (Mecklenberg County Sheriff’s Office).
A North Carolina man was trapped in a locked storage unit for four days in complete darkness with no food or water before he was able to find his phone and call 911. When he finally was able to talk to police he told them that his girlfriend locked him in there.
Robin Deaton, 52, was arrested on Feb. 27 and charged with attempted murder and kidnapping after her boyfriend accused her of luring him into a Cooper Storage unit in Monroe, a city around 25 miles southeast of Charlotte, on Feb. 20. According to the Monroe Police Department, the man — who was not named to maintain his privacy — was having an argument with Deaton while they were at the storage unit and she asked him to get something from inside. While he was inside, she allegedly said, “This is what you get!” before slamming the door closed and locking him in — for the next four days.
After four days in total darkness inside the storage unit, and without food or water, the man finally located his cellphone and called 911. He told dispatchers during the Feb. 24 call that “his girlfriend double locked him” in the unit. In the call, which was obtained by WBTV, a local CBS affiliate, he said, “I’ve been locked inside a storage unit for about a week now, and I just now found my phone.”
When dispatchers asked if he needed medical attention, he responded, “I just need out of here. I can’t. I just can’t breathe. I haven’t had nothing to drink or anything … I know there’s two locks on this. She put two locks on it for some reason.”
Monroe Police Lt. Morgan Malone said that the man was treated at the hospital for dehydration and was released. Malone explained that it may have taken the man so long to find his phone because not only was he in total darkness inside the unit, but it was reportedly packed to the brim. She told WBTV, “The storage unit was described to me as being a hoarder’s paradise. As soon as the officers opened up the door, things started falling out. The further they opened it, more stuff fell out.”
WBTV also reported that the man told dispatchers that he had no cell service inside the unit, only the ability to dial 911. This would have meant that he wouldn’t have been able to receive calls or notifications that would have caused his phone to light up.
After the man was rescued, police got a warrant for Deaton’s arrest on charges of attempted murder and kidnapping. She was arrested on Feb. 27 and booked into the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, where she is being held without bond.
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