KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knoxville man is accused of tying up and robbing an acquaintance Monday, taking the man's dog and some money Monday, according to the Knoxville Police Department.
Dustin Breeden, 30, of Cadbury Drive, is charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and aggravated kidnapping. He's a convicted felon, previously found guilty of a 2016 aggravated burglary, records state.
Authorities say he kidnapped and robbed Tom Bush.
"He got down right on top of me, and stuck the gun, I could feel around the gun barrel on my head right here, and he says, I’m gonna blow your head off, and he cocked the gun and I thought maybe that was the end of it," Bush told WBIR on Tuesday. "And I didn’t know what to do. I just froze. I said, Please, sir, please don’t kill me."
KPD said officers responded about 5 p.m. Monday to the 5600 block of Aloha Avenue, where Frank Barron said he'd found Bush, his 68-year-old neighbor, tied up on the floor.
Officers arrived to find the man bound and gagged at the doorway of his house, according to KPD.
The victim said Breeden, wearing a mask, had come to his back door around 1 p.m. Monday and pulled out a black handgun and pointed it at him. Even though he had a mask, the victim told police he recognized Breeden's voice, a warrant states.
Breeden entered the man's house through the back door and demanded money, according to the victim.
The victim said Breeden went through his house and took his wallet, ID, debit card, cell phone and car keys to his 2008 Mercury.
The victim said Breeden then tied him up and forced him into his bedroom closet. The suspect left to try to use the debit card, but when he couldn't get access, he returned to the house on Aloha, demanding the victim's PIN code and access code to his cell phone.
The victim told police he was able to break out of the closet and make his way to the front of his house, where his neighbor found him and called 911, KPD said.
According to a warrant, the neighbor encountered Breeden outside the house. He told the neighbor the homeowner was letting him borrow the Mercury.
He also showed the neighbor his pistol, racking the slide and ejecting a 9mm round.
Breeden then drove off in the Mercury, and the neighbor called police for help after hearing the victim calling out, the warrant states.
Breeden and the vehicle were located at a family member's home in the 6300 block of Cadbury Drive about 1 1/2 miles from the Aloha Avenue house.
Inside the car, police found the victim's dog, a box containing about $30, a vacuum and a 9mm round in the car cup holder.
"(Breeden) had the victim's ID on his person," the warrant states.
Earlier in the day around 10 a.m., Breeden took a man's car, an Acura SUV, and left it parked in a nearby neighborhood, according to police. The man told police Breeden had used the car and was supposed to deliver a Glock pistol to his brother, a warrant states.
The friend told police Breeden didn't deliver the gun.
Officers were able to find the Acura on Lynnmont Road.
Breeden faces aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and altering/forging a license plate charges.
