Local

Jacksonville man: Attackers kicked me in face while daughter was tied up

ON TV: Johnathan Parker tells his story Monday on CBS47 at 5 and FOX30 at 10. 

ORIGINAL STORY: Jacksonville man says he was beaten, daughter tied up in Glen Kernan home invasion

Two men on the run Monday after beating a Jacksonville father during a home invasion, tying up his daughter and leaving with various items.

Johnathan Parker is opening up about the horrific ordeal — one he said he tried to escape.

“They kicked me in the face 40 or 50 times,” Parker said. "When they went to go through the safe to steal our valuables, I had a window of opportunity to try to escape.

"I took that window. I was able to get to the front door unlock it ... when the other assailant shot me in the back with the taser."

The incident happened in the upscale Glen Kernan neighborhood on the Southside. Parker said all he could think about was his daughter, who was tied up in another room.

“They went into her bedroom, grabbed her, tied her up and put her in our master bedroom,” Parker said. “[One suspect] threatened to shoot me with my own gun.

"They had threatened to kill me several times [and even argued [with each other whether to shoot me or not."

[They told] me when I was on the ground, in puddles of my own blood [that] if i move or flinch, they were going to shoot me.”

Parker believes this was planned, and the men chose his home for a reason. The men stole $20,000 from the house, according to the police report.

“I believe i was targeted in a sense,” Parker said. “They had cased the home at some point.”

Parker said he had recently purchased two new motorcycles, including a high-end 2018 Ducati.

Parker said one of the attackers left on the Ducati, and the other escaped through the rear of the house.

The suspects are described as two white males with Southern accents. Both were 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8. One suspect had dark, sunken eyes.

Parker escaped the ordeal without any life-threatening injuries. Parker did lose a tooth and has multiple head contusions.

His daughter was unharmed.

"At first, they covered her nose and her mouth with duct tape and she couldn’t breathe," Parker said. "She said she tried to signal she couldn’t breathe [and] I guess they removed it enough she could breathe out of her nose.

"If they don’t get caught, i have no doubt they will do this again."