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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Knoxville police chief on Wednesday honored a patrol officer whose investigative prowess and tenacity led to the arrest of a woman accused of killing a 77-year-old man during a robbery.
Hugh Patterson died June 28 at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center from injuries sustained earlier that month during a robbery at his Greenfield Lane residence, Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk said.
Records show Patterson encountered a woman about 10 p.m. June 12 at a West Woodland Avenue market when he finished eating. After an extended conversation in the parking lot of the market, Patterson invited the woman to his house.
At his residence, the woman demanded $40 for sex, but Patterson refused, records show. The woman then grabbed the man's wallet from his pants, leading to a struggle between the two, DeBusk said.
During the struggle, the woman knocked Patterson to the ground, breaking his right hip and right wrist, records show. The man was able to crawl to his telephone to call police, and the woman fl ed.
Patterson's wallet contained $100 in cash, according to records.
Knoxville Police Department Offi cer Dan Paidousis was helping investigate the 11:30 p.m. robbery and on June 24 detained a woman for questioning. That woman wasn't the assailant, but her tips led Paidousis to another woman who resembled the one who had used Patterson's credit card at a department store.
Questioning of that woman in turn led to Patricia Mc-Millan, 51, police said.
Earlier this month, a Knox County grand jury indicted McMillan on charges of felony murder and especially aggravated robbery. McMillan was being held Wednesday in the Knox County Detention Facility in lieu of $150,000 bond regarding Patterson's death. She also faces three counts of forgery, records show.
For Paidousis' hard work investigating various leads on the robbery while still patrolling and serving as a neighborhood liaison, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV presented him on Wednesday with the Officer of the Month award for June.
Owen praised Paidousis' "sustained superior effort," which helped Investigator Steve Still make an arrest.
Paidousis is a 17-year veteran of the department.
