911 dispatcher, K-9 help Clayton police arrest suspect
CLAYTON, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Johnston County 911 dispatcher and a Clayton Police K-9 are being credited for helping with an arrest of an armed robbery suspect.
Clayton police said they arrested 22-year-old Gerald Thomas Holmes III of Clayton.
The incident happened around 2:30 a.m. Monday at the Clayton Estate Mobile Home Park off Lakeview Drive and N.C. 42.
Kenneth Clark was asleep in bed when he awoke to find his power was cut off. He called 911 and was still on the line with a dispatcher when he went outside and found that his breaker had been switched off.
"Hit the main switch, cut the connection off," Clark told ABC11.
He flipped the breaker back on and was headed back into his house when two men with masks and rags on their faces came up to him, demanding money and threatening they had guns, according to police.
"I said 'Look, I don't have any money. I have bills like any other responsible adult,'" Clark recalled.
The dispatcher was still on the phone and called for police.
Police said when they arrived Clark ran out, but the suspects were still in the home.
"They made sure I was safe and they did their job and they were very professional," said Clark.
Officers said they heard a gunshot and found a window shot out around the side of the mobile home. One of the suspects ran off.
Officers set up a perimeter and called Clayton Police Selective Enforcement Team, which includes the K-9 officers. Johnston County Sheriff's deputies also responded for back-up.
Police said Officer Jamie Brantley, along with his K-9 partner Abel, was telling the suspect inside that they were about to release the K-9 when he came out and was arrested peacefully.
Holmes is charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number, possession of a firearm by a felon, and assault by pointing a gun.
He is being held in the Johnston County jail under a $200,000 secured bond.
Detectives said they have a lead on the second suspect and expect to arrest him soon.
No one was hurt in the incident.
