Federal judge details armed robbery in 911 call

Three armed men invaded the home of Federal Judge Susan Dlott and her husband, attorney Stan Chesley, police said.

Officials said the couple was robbed at gunpoint inside their Indian Hill home just before 11 p.m.

Dlott ran to a neighbor's house, who called 911, reporting a woman (Dlott) in a nightgown was desperately banging on the front door. Dlott then called 911 and told the dispatcher that three masked black men with guns invaded their home and her husband and dog were still inside. She also demanded the dispatcher call the U.S. Marshals because she was a federal judge.

Another neighbor also called 911 around the same time to alert police that all the doors to the house were open, the garage was beeping loudly, a dog was missing and no one was home.

Officers arrived at the scene minutes later.

Madeira police arrested three men in connection with the robbery within an hour of the incident.

Terry Jackson, 21, Darrell Kinney, 20, and Demetrius Williams, 20, have each been charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of abduction.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said he would meet with federal investigators and prosecutors next week to determine the best way to proceed with the case, which he described as among the most serious crimes.

“Outside of murder, armed home invasions may be the worst type of offender,” Deters said. “They are willing to go into someone’s home, a locked home, with weapons. It’s as bad as it gets.”

The suspects, all armed with guns, kicked in the basement door of the home in the 9000 block of Camargo Drive, threatened to shoot Chesley and Dlott, then ordered them around the house while taking items, according to police reports.

Court records state that at one point Chesley was pushed down a small set of stairs and injured.

Lt. Rich White of the Indian Hill Rangers said the suspects were leading Chesley and Dlott into the garage of their home when they heard a beeping noise and fled from the house the same way they came in.

After the men left, the couple made their way their through the woods to their neighbor's house and contacted the police, White said.

Shortly after, Madeira police pulled over a car for a traffic violation on Dawson Road. The three occupants of the car matched the description of the suspects, and what appeared to be stolen property was found in the car, White said.

Madeira police took the men into custody, but officers said one tried to escape.

Kinney was cuffed and placed in the back of a police cruiser when he kicked out the window, jumped out and ran, police said. He was quickly recaptured and taken to the Indian Hill Police Department along with the other suspects. Madeira police said Kinney will also be charged with vandalism and escape.

Kinney was released from jail this summer after serving a two-year sentence stemming from a 2013 conviction for burglary.

Police said some of the items taken from the home were recovered in the vehicle. Officers also reported one of the suspects confessed to the incident.

All three men are being held at the Hamilton County Justice Center. They will be arraigned in court Monday.

An investigation of the scene continued for several hours, White said. He explained it is possible that more charges might be brought against the three men.

Dlott and Chesley are one of the city’s true power couples.

They got married in 1991, while Chesley was at the height of his career as one of the nation’s premier tort lawyers. Chesley was best known as representing victims of the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire. He would go on to lead civil litigation related to the Fernald uranium enrichment plant, the downing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, and a host of other national and international disasters.

Chesley has made headlines lately for his role in the fen-phen weight loss drug case, in which he and other attorneys were accused of taking too large a share of the settlement intended for people whose hearts were damaged by the drug. He lost his law license in Kentucky over that case and resigned his Ohio law license. That case is ongoing.

When Dlott met Chesley, who has been a major fundraiser for primarily Democratic candidates, she was a well-known attorney who had worked as a federal prosecutor. In 1995, President Bill Clinton nominated her to be a U.S. District Court judge in Cincinnati. She’s known as a fair, but tough judge, especially related to child pornography cases.

Together in 2004 they bought a house in Indian Hill, which at the time was the most expensive home in Hamilton County. The 25-room, 27,000-square-foot French-style chateau cost $8 million.