Woman Arrested After Allegedly Locking Her Boyfriend Inside Storage Unit Without Food or Water for Days: Police

Mar. 15, 2025

Robin Deaton.Photo:MCSO

MCSO

A woman in North Carolina has been accused of locking her boyfriend in a storage unit for multiple days without food or water, police have said.

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 confirmed to PEOPLE.

“Robin Deaton was arrested last night in Charlotte, North Carolina and served with those warrants,” Malone said in an email on Thursday, Feb. 27.

Deaton’s boyfriend had been locked in the Cooper Storage facility in Monroe since Thursday, Feb. 20, police added. Malone also confirmed the victim had no food or water while locked in the facility.

A photo of Cooper Storage in Monroe, North Carolina.Google Maps

Google Maps

Malone told PEOPLE that the victim said the suspect 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.”

“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.

The man 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.

“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.”

Robin Deaton.MCSO

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Police added that the man had been in complete darkness, hence why he struggled to find his phone, according to the outlet.

Commenting on the fact the situation could have turned fatal, Malone told the station, “[The man] had no food, no water. If we had been in the heat of the summer, or the super cold of the winter, this would be a whole different story. I do think this is an important reminder that men can also be victims of domestic abuse.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

source: people.com