Police still probing Maryville home invasion
By Wes Wade | (wes.wade@thedailytimes.com)
Police are still investigating but have made no arrests in a home-invasion robbery at a Maryville apartment complex Tuesday night.
Maryville Police officers responded to an apartment complex in the 400 block of South Maple Street at around 8:45 p.m., said Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp.
A resident of the complex had dialed 911 and advised dispatchers that she heard someone inside another resident’s apartment telling the resident to “give it to him,” according to a Maryville Police report.
When officers arrived, they found the door to the apartment standing open and saw what appeared to be blood smeared on the wall. A witness in the hallway said the victim ran out of the apartment and went to the apartment of the woman who initially phoned police.
The 70-year-old victim told officers that a large-built man wearing blue jeans, brown shoes, a dark coat and a ski mask forced his way into his apartment. The victim said the subject brandished a handgun and demanded his prescription medication.
The victim refused the intruder’s demands, the report states, at which point the intruder tried to tie the victim’s hands with duct tape. The victim then pulled away from his assailant and the two began to struggle. The intruder was eventually able to flee with an unknown amount of the victim’s prescription medication, police said.
During an interview with police, the victim said he had an argument with an acquaintance earlier in the day and that he had let the man borrow his car.
Officers responded to the address of the acquaintance and recovered the victim’s car. Investigators also located the acquaintance, identified as Joseph Ryan Harrell, 32, Harrington Court, Maryville. Harrell was arrested on a warrant for doctor shopping and was taken to the Blount County Jail. He was released on $5,000 bond pending a 9 a.m. Feb. 20 hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court.
Police interviewed Harrell about the home invasion, but no charges were placed.
“In regards to the home invasion, we’re still working on it,” Crisp said. “We still have an active investigation going on, but no arrests (have been) made at this time.”
