This undated photo provided by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office shows Daniel Clayton Bryant. Authorities in Texas have apprehended the car salesman accused of kidnapping a paralyzed Tennessee man and forcing him to hand over nearly $200,000 cash. Cedar Hill police Lt. Colin Chenault said Wednesday, April 17, 2019, that a federal task force took 42-year-old Bryant into custody Sunday at a hotel in Cedar Hill, southwest of Dallas. (Dallas County Sheriff's Office via AP)
DALLAS – Federal authorities apprehended near Dallas a car salesman accused of kidnapping a paralyzed man in Tennessee and forcing him to hand over nearly $200,000 or risk his life and the lives of his family, police said Wednesday.
The federal task force took 42-year-old Daniel Clayton Bryant into custody Sunday at a hotel in Cedar Hill, southwest of Dallas, Cedar Hill police Lt. Colin Chenault said. Bryant is charged with kidnapping, bank robbery and extortion.
He was being held Wednesday at a federal prison outside Dallas. Authorities have not said when he will be returned to Tennessee.
The victim, who has one leg and is paralyzed down one side, told police that Bryant offered to drive him home April 1 after he left his pickup for service at a dealership in Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to a federal criminal complaint.
The man said he had received a financial settlement after he suffered severe injuries at work, documents show. He said Bryant forced him to withdraw thousands in cashier's checks and cash over a two-day period from two Bank of America locations, and that Bryant threatened to kill him and his family if he didn't comply.
Bryant then deposited $199,000 into his own bank accounts, the complaint said.
Bryant also allegedly drove the man to a hotel near Atlanta, took the man's credit cards and forced him to smoke crack cocaine, the complaint said.
No attorney has been identified to speak on Bryant's behalf.
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