BY KEITH EPPS

A young Spotsylvania County man is accused of breaking into the home of an older woman he had visited earlier in the day and trying to rob her at gunpoint, police said.

Sheriff’s Lt. Col. Michael Timm said the incident took place late Thursday in the 5400 block of Towles Mill Road.

Timm said the 22-year-old suspect had been to the victim’s home earlier Thursday with a woman who is a friend of the 74-year-old victim.

Police said the suspect returned to the home alone late Thursday wearing a mask.

He entered the home with a long gun and pointed it at the victim while demanding her purse and medication, police said.

The woman refused to give him anything, Timm said, and the suspect eventually ran off in an unknown direction.

The victim told police she thought she recognized the suspect’s voice, so deputies went to her friend’s home a few houses away.

They found the male suspect there and brought him back to the victim’s home.

Timm said police let their bloodhound, Maggie, sniff an item of clothing the man was wearing. The dog then tracked a scent from the victim’s house and went directly to the home were the man had been initially located, Timm said.

Inside the home, police found the gun and the mask believed to have been used in the attempted robbery.

The man made a statement about the incident and was arrested, Timm said.

James Author Mosley was charged with breaking and entering, attempted robbery, wearing a mask in public and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

He was placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

Keith Epps: 540/374-5404

kepps@freelancestar.com