Ohio man charged with kidnapping and holding woman captive in a TINY pit inside a shed, behind his home
‘A tragedy was barely prevented because a neighbor heard the woman’s cries coming from the backyard, in the early hours’
Dennis Dunn arrested after holding woman captive in pit inside shed behind his home in Blanchester, Ohio
The woman reported missing woman hours earlier was found barricaded in pit inside a backyard shed
A neighbor called authorities after hearing cries from the shed in the 45-year-old loner’s backyard
The first police officer who arrived on the scene also heard the cries
Cops described the pit as “tight quarters,” about 40 inches deep and 2 feet wide
Dunn known to have mental health issues, was taken to a nearby hospital while in custody
He’s charged with kidnapping
The home owner Dennis Dunn, 45, was arrested early Wednesday after the woman was rescued from a pit inside a shed behind his home, authorities say.
Responding officers said in the face of police parked outside his house, guns drawn for four hours, Dennis Dunn walked out “like he was going for a stroll,” WLWT reports.
The victim’s mother had reported her missing just a few hours before, according to the station.
Dunn was charged with kidnapping following his arrest shortly after 8 a.m. The suspect who has a history of mental health issues was taken to a nearby hospital while in custody, according to Fox 19.
Failed by the mental health system: Dennis Dunn, believed to have mental health issues, was charged with kidnapping and holding a woman hostage in a pit in his backyard shed
A neighbor called authorities after hearing cries from the shed, according to Fox 19. The first police officer who arrived on the scene in Blanchester heard the cries as well, and later found the woman being held captive, according to the station.
She was trapped down a pit that had been dug at the bottom of the shed, they said. The woman had been missing since around midnight.
A wooden board covered the pit. Heavy objects had been placed on top of the board to hold it down.
Police said it would have been impossible for the victim to get out.The victim was not
injured, according to Blanchester Police Chief Scott Reinbolt.
Dennis Dunn was arrested at his Blanchester, Ohio home early Wednesday after his hostage was rescued by officers
Later, neighbors reported seeing Dunn in the yard “with a pistol in his hand,” according to the Wilmington Journal News.
“The responding officer ordered Dunn to drop the firearm,” Police Chief Scott Reinbolt told the paper. “He did not immediately comply and was given additional orders to do so by the officer. He finally set the gun down on a lawn chair on the porch.”
Fox 19 reports that Dunn who has had several brushes with the law in the past was arrested earlier this month and charged with disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana, after he repeatedly called police to his home because ‘he heard voices or thought people were trying to get in’.
Police say they seized this gun from Dennis Dunn
Chief Reinbolt told the Journal News at the time that Dunn’s case “illustrates the failure of the mental health system in Ohio.”
“It would appear to me that Mr. Dunn is in need of some sort of psychiatric treatment,” he told the newspaper. “He was taken to a mental health provider in order to receive that treatment. Within 24 hours he was released, but continues to exhibit the same symptoms.”
Leave a Reply