Boyfriend of NC woman accused of locking him in a storage unit says charges are 'bogus'

MONROE, N.C. (WTVD) -- A North Carolina woman is charged with attempted murder after allegedly locking her boyfriend in a storage unit, where he was stuck for several days with no food or water before being rescued, police said.

Robin Deaton, 52, of Matthews, was arrested on attempted murder and kidnapping charges, the Monroe Police Department said. She was booked into jail early Thursday after a manhunt by police.

Deaton's boyfriend Gary Oxendine told ABC affiliate WSOC the incident was all a mistake.

"She did not lure me into the back of a unit for nothing. All this is just a bunch of bull crap," Oxendine said. "They need to get their stuff right. It's just a bunch of bogus charges. I mean she shouldn't be up there charged with attempted murder, attempted kidnapping."

He told WSOC that the course of events did start the way police claimed.

Oxendine said he and Deaton were at the Cooper Storage Unit in Monroe on Feb. 20.

He said at some point Deaton left to get food for the couple and while she was gone, he fell asleep in the unit. When Deaton returned, Oxendine said she yelled for him but he didn't hear her and that is when she locked the unit, assuming he left.

"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," Oxendine said.

He said he got out of the unit days later after calling 911.

Oxendine said he called emergency services instead of Deaton because he had no service in the unit and it was the only call that would go through.

In the police report, officers said the series of events went differently.

Officers said Oxendine told them Deaton shut the door on him after saying, "This is what you get." Oxendine said that is false.

WSOC reached out to the Monroe Police Department, which released a statement:

"Detectives have followed the facts of the case with corroborating evidence to support charging Deaton with kidnapping and attempted murder. The charges have been filed and the case has been turned over to the Union County District Attorney's Office."

Oxendine said he went to try to get Deaton released on Thursday morning.

"If they want to trade me for her, I'll go in there and sit. Just whatever, she needs to get out. She's got two kids. I mean it's just a bunch of bull-crap," he said.

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