Federal judge ran a mile barefoot to get help after home invasion
A federal judge ran a mile barefoot, in her nightgown, to get help after a Friday night home invasion in which she and her well-known husband were held at gunpoint in their bedroom, according to authorities and a neighbor.
U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott only realized her feet were bleeding as she called 911, her neighbor and former law clerk, Michelle Young, told WCPO. The couple had escaped through a garage door. But Dlott’s husband, former trial lawyer Stan Chesley, couldn’t go far because of injuries he suffered being thrown down a flight of stairs in their suburban Cincinnati mansion.
Dlott returned to work Monday in slippers due to the injuries to her feet, Young said.
Meanwhile, bond was set at $2.5 million to $2.75 million for three suspects charged with aggravated robbery and abduction in the case, Terry Jackson, 21, Darrell Kinney, 20, and Demetrius Williams, 20. The three were initially pulled over in a traffic stop but were quickly identified as suspects in the home invasion after items stolen from the couple were allegedly found in their vehicle.
Lt. Steve Makin of the Indian Hill Rangers police department said the suspects didn’t know Dlott or Chesley, but had targeted them on the road because they drove what he described as a “nice vehicle.” The trio followed the couple home to see what kind of house they lived in, then left and smoked some marijuana before returning to the mansion, the lieutenant said.
They kicked in a back door and made several trips in and out of the home with the couple’s property before going into the couple’s bedroom and putting guns to Chesley and Dlott’s heads, Makin told the station.
“They started demanding cash and jewelry. They asked for the location of a safe. They weren’t given a location of a safe. Mr. Chesley and Judge Dlott offered them the cash that they had, tried to get them to leave,” Makin said. “One of the suspects made mention of the vehicle that Mr. Chesley was driving. They offered up car keys—‘Take the cars just get out of here. Take off.’—They didn’t do that.”
Nonetheless, the group went down to the garage and the couple made their escape.
Chesley suffered a broken pelvis, three broken bones in his thoracic spine and a concussion from being thrown down the stairs by one of the suspects, Young said.
An attorney for Jackson called the arrest out of character, describing his client as a young man living with his mother and working three jobs. He said Jackson has no prior arrest record, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The article doesn’t include any comment from lawyers for Kinney and Williams. It says the two were previously convicted in a July 2013 burglary, sentenced to two years and released in July.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Federal judge robbed at gunpoint at home; 3 men arrested”
