Quick thinking helps catch suspect in Johnston County armed robbery

At about 2:30 a.m. Monday, the power went out at Kenneth Clark's home in the Clayton Estates Mobile Home Park near Lakeview Drive. Clark called 911, walked outside and noticed that neighbors still had their lights on.

"Something was not right," Clark said.

Clark said it looked as though someone had flipped his breaker.

As he went back into his house, he said that two men with masks and rags over their faces demanded money at gunpoint.

"Two guys approached me from the corner of my house with guns to my head," Clark said. "Threatening to shoot me, he said, 'we will kill you'."

When the men approached Clark, he was still on the line with the 911 dispatcher. As he put the phone down, he spoke deliberately, to let the dispatcher know what was going on.

"I said 'I am putting the phone down because I see you have a gun'," Clark said. "I said 'no problem, let's go on in the house, seeing you have a gun'."

Clark said that the two men tore through his home for a while, looking for money.

The 911 dispatcher realized what was happening and alerted police to the situation. Officers were already outside Clark's home when the two men were preparing to leave.

"They started to leave and the authority was at the back door," Clark said.

Clark said that one man dove out of his window and the other was trapped inside by police.

Officers threatened to release a police dog into the home when the man agreed to come out and surrender.

Gerald Thomas Holmes III, 22, of 107 Picadilly Court, was charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number, possession of a firearm by a felon and assault by pointing a gun. (delete 2nd sentence)

Holmes is currently being held in the Johnston County jail. His bond is set at $200,000.

Detectives said that they have leads on the second man involved in the robbery attempt and expect to make an arrest soon.