Tennessee man charged with kidnapping man in Cahokia

A 53-year-old man was arrested after Cahokia police said they foiled his plan to kidnap an employee from a local business Tuesday morning.

The victim was held at gunpoint inside of the suspect’s vehicle and shots were fired, but no one was injured, police said.

Kevin S, Brown, of Dandridge, Tennessee, was charged with multiple charges, including aggravated kidnapping, aggravated discharge of a firearm, aggravated driving under the influence, solicitation of kidnapping, unlawful possession of a weapon, aggravated unlawful restraint, and reckless discharge of a firearm.

Brown is currently being held in the county jail in lieu of $300,000 bail.

Dennis Plew, assistant chief of police, said Brown was planning to kidnap an employee of a local Cahokia business. Plew did not name the business to protect the employee’s identity.

Police believe Brown has been in the Cahokia area for about a month.

Plew said Brown arrived at the business Tuesday morning and police, who had received some information about the possible kidnapping attempt, arrived shortly after Brown.

“We received information from an anonymous source. We started investigating the tip. By the time we got to the business, Brown had been there and had lured the 42-year-old male victim into his RV. We went inside to ask where the alleged victim was and was told he went on a test drive with somebody,” Plew said.

Brown told the victim he was having some mechanical issues and that’s how the victim wound up inside of his vehicle, Plew said. The two did not know each other, Plew said.

“As soon as we learned the suspect had driven away from the business, we put out a radio broadcast with a description of the RV and what possibly might be taking place. A Dupo police officer spotted the suspect vehicle. It was traveling on Stolle Road towards I-255. A short police chase ensued. It ended on Denovian Court in Cahokia where the suspect was arrested without incident,” Plew said. When police got the suspect from his vehicle, the victim was not there.

“The victim got out on Stolle Road, in unincorporated Dupo, and called 911and reported that he had been kidnapped. The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department arrived about the same time as Cahokia police,” Plew said. It was unclear how the unnamed victim got out of the vehicle, Plew said.

Plew said police did recover a weapon from the RV.

Plew said the motive appears to be a debt owed to family members. Brown has a prior criminal history, police said.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Tennessee man charged with kidnapping man in Cahokia."