MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An employee at a Southeast Memphis jewelry store thought something was off when two guys came into the business Tuesday afternoon and tried to buy a watch, but he had no idea one of them was being held against his will.
Anees Zaheer at Mr King Jewelers on Winchester said the men tried to buy a $900 watch, but the transaction was denied because the last name on the credit card did not match the customer’s ID.
Zaheer said after he told the men he couldn’t sell them the watch, one of them showed him something on his iPhone.
“He wrote don’t do it. I said that they were probably friends or something because he came here with his friends before. So, I said his friend doesn’t want him to do it,” said Zaheer. “After they leaving, I went to the security guard and told him the whole thing.”
Police said Derrickus Brown, 27, was arrested after he tried to use the victim’s credit card again at the GameStop next door, and the victim was able to tell the clerk he had been kidnapped.
According to the police report, Brown was taken into custody after officers spotted the victim’s 2015 Mercedes at the Regions Bank drive-through in the 3000 block of Kirby Parkway.
The victim told police that early Tuesday morning, Brown and another man had tied him up at gunpoint, driven him around until daylight, and made him withdraw $6,000 from a Regions Bank on Elvis Presley.
He said Brown forced him to go into the Walmart on Winchester to buy some TVs and other merchandise, but his card was declined, and then they drove to the jewelry store in the same shopping center.
Police said they found some drugs on Brown and a large amount of cash inside a black bag wrapped around his torso. They also recovered a handgun the victim said belonged to him.
The victim said Brown took his weapon and fired a single shot into the floorboard of his car.
Brown is facing charges of aggravated kidnapping, attempted aggravated robbery, and unlawful possession of a handgun.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.