Arrest made in Belle Meade home invasion case

Metro Police say they arrested a paroled ex-convict in connection with a Belle Meade home invasion and kidnapping.

Antonio D. Harris, 21, was arrested at an apartment at 1408 11th Avenue. Police say Harris is one of five suspects that entered a home in the 4000 block of Harding Place on Nov. 23 and robbed the home of computer equipment and money. The suspects also allegedly stole a Toyota Highlander SUV, police say.

In a crime that sent ripples through affluent Belle Meade community, five people drove the homeowner, his daughter and her boyfriend to two ATMs in the Green Hills area before releasing them in a nearby neighborhood.

Metro Gang Unit detectives recovered the Highlander on Dec. 2 in the Edgehill Public Housing development. Police in a written statement said an ongoing investigation linked Harris to the alleged crime. Harris has been charged with three counts each of aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Harris was convicted twice in 2005 with a seven-year sentence for two robbery convictions and again on a four-year sentence for two aggravated burglary convictions. He was paroled June 18, but was arrested again in November and accused of stealing cash from his former employer. He was out on $2,000 bond at the time of the Belle Meade home invasion incident.

Police have said previously they are also investigating whether a similar robbery that took place on Jessie Drive in the Paragon Mills area of south Nashville that same November night several hours prior to the Belle Meade crime is related.

Metro Police spokesperson Don Aaron said a couple returned to their Jessie Drive home just before 7 p.m. on the 23rd when four armed young black males approached them. Two of the suspects allegedly took the couple into the family home at gunpoint. Two other suspects allegedly took the couples’ ATM cards and attempted to use them to withdraw cash at an area bank. Eventually, the suspects left the couple unharmed at their home.