Two men arrested in Friendsville home invasion
From Staff Reports
Two Monroe County men are in custody following a home invasion in which they allegedly impersonated law enforcement officers, Blount County Sheriff James Lee Berrong said Friday.
Dustin Daniel Stinnett, 22, and Austin Jeremiah Frank, 23, both of Madisonville, are charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping and criminal impersonation for impersonating a law enforcement officer. They are being held in the Blount County Detention Facility. Bond amounts and court dates have not yet been set.
A woman who lives on Bowers Circle in Friendsville told sheriff’s deputies that two men came to her residence at around 10:30 p.m. July 14 and knocked on the front door. The pair identified themselves as law enforcement officers and pulled handguns on the women and a male neighbor who came out to assist her.
The two men told the woman they had information that she was engaging in illegal activity and they needed to search her residence. During the search, they took a large amount of cash from the woman’s purse, as well as her medication.
They told her if she could prove the money was hers, she could have it back the next day. The two men then left. When the woman did not hear from the men the following day, she called Blount County Communications and was advised the Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a call at her residence the night before.
The case was then assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division. On Friday, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office arrested Stinnett and Frank at their residence in Madisonville. They also found several items associated with law enforcement work.
