- A man in North Carolina who previously accused his girlfriend of locking him in a storage unit for days is now saying the charges are a mistake, according to local media outlet WSOC
- Monroe Police Department previously confirmed to PEOPLE that the suspect, Robin Deaton, was facing attempted murder and kidnapping charges after allegedly leaving her partner in the unit without food or water
- “It’s just a bunch of bogus charges,” the man, Gary Oxendine, told WSOC
A man in North Carolina is speaking out after previously suggesting his girlfriend had locked him in a storage unit for days without food or water.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, Robin Deaton, 52, was arrested and is facing attempted murder and kidnapping charges, Monroe Police Department lieutenant and public information officer Morgan Malone previously confirmed to us.
In a 911 call obtained by PEOPL, which was released by Union County Emergency Services, her boyfriend claimed she’d locked him in the Cooper Storage facility in Monroe.
Robin Deaton.
MCSO
Malone told PEOPLE he’d been at the facility since Thursday, Feb. 20, without any food or water.
However, the man has since claimed that he fell asleep in the unit, his girlfriend didn’t realize and locked the door, Malone told PEOPLE in an email.
The male, identified as Gary Oxendine, told ABC-affiliated local station WSOC that the charges are reportedly “bogus” and a mistake.
“It’s just a bunch of bogus charges. I mean she shouldn’t be up there charged with attempted murder, attempted kidnapping,” Oxendine told the station’s Channel 9.
He claimed that Deaton had left to get them something to eat, before he fell asleep in the unit. He alleged she didn’t see him and he didn’t hear her when she shouted for him. She then left and locked the door, thinking he’d gone, per the outlet.
Oxendine said, “She thought I had gone with an ex-girlfriend. That’s what it all boils down to, and I hadn’t. She said she came the next day but I sleep hard and I fell asleep. I had been up working for a couple days,” per the station.
Malone said in an email to regarding Oxendine’s comments, “The detectives followed the facts of the case with corroborating evidence to support the charges. The charges have been filed and the case has been turned over to the District Attorney’s Office. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a domestic violence victim to recant their initial testimony.”
Oxendine’s comments come after he said in the 911 call obtained by PEOPLE, “I’ve been locked in a storage unit for about a week now, and I’ve just now found my phone.”
“My girlfriend locked me in here. She doubled locked my lock, and I don’t know how she put me in here but she put me in here,” he alleged.
Oxendine claimed he was in unit 43, saying when questioned whether he needed emergency services, “I just need [to get] out of here.”
“I just can’t breathe. I haven’t had nothing to drink or anything,” he said.
A photo of the Cooper Storage facility sign in Monroe, North Carolina.
Google Maps
An incident report previously obtained by PEOPLE confirmed that police officers “responded to 1950 Old Charlotte Hwy in reference to suspicious circumstances” on Monday, Feb. 24, at approximately 2:13 p.m. The report listed the crime as false imprisonment.
Malone told us on Feb. 27 that the man said Deaton had allegedly convinced him to crawl to the back of the storage unit to grab something for her, before she slammed it shut and said, “This is what you get.”
The officer said of the case, per CBS-affiliated local station WBTV, “This is bizarre. In 15 years, I’ve not seen anybody who has been locked in a storage unit.”
“The storage unit was described to me as being a hoarder’s paradise,” Malone added, according to the outlet. “As soon as the officers opened up the door, things started falling out. The further they opened it, more stuff fell out.”
Police added that the man had been in complete darkness, hence why he struggled to find his phone, according to the outlet.
