NEBRASKA CITY –  Although he couldn’t talk under threat of gunpoint, a Nebraska City man was able to get a 911 call out Sunday morning while  a masked man was demanding his wallet.

31-year-old Clayton Rakes said he woke to noises outside. He had pressed 911 on his phone, but did not press send, and went out to investigate.

Rakes: “I looked in the back of the yard and when I turned the corner from the back of the yard, there he was – five feet away from me. I looked down on my phone to where I already had 911 typed in and pressed send. Then we started exchanging words between him and I.”

He said the gunman demanded his wallet and, when he said he did not have it on him, the gunman demanded that he go inside the house to get it.

Rakes said the gunman did not realize he already had dialed 911, so when he saw Rakes look down to the phone he warned him not to call the police.

During the conversation that followed, Rakes saw an opportunity to escape.

Rakes: “By the way I took a step forward he would take a step back, so I kind of knew I maybe could get away with looking down at my phone for a split second and pressing send, as opposed, you know, holding it up with both fingers trying to open it up with your password or your face ID.””

Rakes suspects that the 911 dispatcher could hear about 20 seconds of the conversation before Rakes took cover behind his pickup and the gunman fled on foot.

He said another neighbor called police after seeing the man running in the neighborhood and police apprehended a suspect within a few minutes.

Police arrested 28-year-old James Dunn in his driveway and say he had an ammunition magazine, but they have not found a firearm.

Rakes says neighbors have joined the search for a gun, but he suspects there are many places it could be hidden in the 17th Street area.

Authorities have not linked the case to any other crimes in the neighborhood, but there is suspicion.

Dunn’s residence is across the street from Michael Ragland, who reported a home invasion this winter where a gunman demanded his wallet.  Rakes’ residence is across the alley from Ragland’s place.

Rakes says he could not positively identify the white male who held him at gunpoint because of the bandanna across most of his face.

Dunn is being held on a $50,000 bond.