TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Two men have been arrested after police say they kicked open the front door of a victim's apartment, held the victim at gunpoint, and stole more than $3,000 in cash, jewelry and several Nike shoes.
Dijon Dicks, 22, and David Denson, 22, have been arrested and charged with home invasion robbery.
Arrest documents say Tallahassee Police were called to the Alliance Apartments on Putnam Drive on Wednesday about a home invasion robbery.
When they arrived they spoke to a witness who said he saw two men break into an apartment and then run across the street to Gardens Apartments. Eventually, officers managed to find the apartment where the suspects, Dicks and Denson, had run into.
While documents say officers didn't find any of the stolen objects in the residence, they found a ring with the victim's initials in Denson's pocket.
Police later spoke with the victim, who said he was cooking when the suspects kicked in his door, held him at gunpoint, and robbed the victim, stealing several items to include approximately $3,500 in cash.
When officers searched the apartment Dicks and Denson were at, documents say police found the cash, a Louis Vuitton bag with several Visa gift cards inside, two pairs of Nike shoes, jewelry, a laptop and a white Gucci belt inside a storage bin in the living room.
Officers established probable cause to arrest both Denson and Dicks. Both were taken to TPD's Criminal Investigations Bureau to be interviewed.
While being interviewed by officers, Denson said he was asleep inside his apartment for about two hours when he was woken up by the sound of a dog barking and someone stating they were the Tallahassee Police, ordering anyone inside to come out.
When Denson came out of the apartment, documents said he was placed in handcuffs by the police and escorted to a police vehicle. Denson told officers he suffers from vision loss and while he was standing at the police vehicle, he stated he doesn't remember what happened.
The police report states, Denson heard an officer say, "he has the victim belt's on. That's a 100 percent on that one." Before being put into the back of the police car, Denson said that the belt was given to him one week ago by the victim.
Denson maintained his story several times that the victim gave him the belt, even after officers confronted him with the available video, witness statements, and the victim's property being found in his apartment.
He also said that he hung out with the victim for a few hours that day, but had not seen him since.
When officers interviewed Dicks, he told them he lived at the Alliance Apartments.
He said he went to another apartment at the Gardens Apartments on the day of the incident and went into a bedroom, where he was when officers arrived, after he returned from the store with other people. While in the bedroom, he stated Denson, who he said he doesn't know, came into the bedroom and lied down.
Shortly after, that's when Dicks said officers arrived.
Dicks told officers he didn't see Denson do anything before lying down in the bed. Dicks said he doesn't own a gun, didn't touch any property in the bedroom or apartment, which didn't belong to him.
According to the police report, Dicks stated he may have two pairs of pants in the apartment, but otherwise he wouldn't have any other clothing in the apartment.
He also said that he was confident his DNA would not be on any of the victim's property and offered to have a sample of his DNA collected.
The victim positively identified Denson as one of the suspects, but did not identify Dicks as an involved party.
The victim told officers he did meet Denson the day before, and said the suspect was wearing silver-colored underwear, which Dicks was wearing at the time of his arrest.
Officers believe that there are stolen items inside of the Garden Apartments that include an "Uzi-style" gun, other guns, holsters, a red hoodie, $3,500 in cash, a silver-colored HP touchscreen laptop, Nike shoes, high top tennis shoes, a gold and black watch, and blue suitcase.
The men are also believed to be responsible for a previous home invasion robbery at the Alliance Apartments. On Aug. 27 officers believe Dicks and Denson forced their way into a 63-year-old woman's apartment, put an "Uzi-style' gun to her head and robbed her.
Based on the information and evidence collected by officers, Dicks and Denson are being charged with robbery/home invasion with a weapon.
