Woman Was Charged After Boyfriend Was Found Locked in Storage for Days. Why Does He Say Charges Are 'Bogus'?

Mar. 15, 2025

A man in North Carolina is speaking out after previously suggestinghis girlfriend had locked him in a storage unit for dayswithout 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 PEOPLE.

Robin Deaton.MCSO

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 stationWSOCthat 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.

“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

Google Maps

Malone told PEOPLE 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 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.”

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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.

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