Gunmen pretending to be police break into family’s Tacoma home
Three people pretending to be police officers forced their way into a Tacoma home Sunday, hurting a couple and threatening to kill their children, court records say.
The home invasion left the mother scratched and bleeding and her husband missing a front tooth after being pistol whipped.
The three children, who tried to hide in an upstairs bedroom, were not hurt.
Pierce County prosecutors on Tuesday filed two counts of first-degree robbery against a 46-year-old man, his 41-year-old wife and a 24-year-old man who is dating the couple’s daughter.
The younger man is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail. The husband and wife each were jailed in lieu of $350,000 bail.
Charging papers give this account:
A neighbor in the 3500 block of East Howe Street heard screaming about 10:10 p.m. and then heard a man’s voice begging someone not to shoot.
The neighbor called 911.
By the time officers arrived, one of the victims called 911 to report the home invasion.
She told police she was walking downstairs when she heard a voice yelling, “Police!” and heard banging at the front door.
As soon as she unlocked the door, someone rushed her and at least three people burst into the house.
The woman said she recognized the man who rushed her and tried to muffle her screams by holding a hand over her mouth. She said he was a homeless man who had been staying in her family’s home until that morning.
The 46-year-old held a gun to her head to force her to quiet down as two others ran upstairs.
After hearing a fight break out, the woman was able to break away from the intruder and run upstairs to a bedroom window, where she screamed for help.
The intruders fled in an SUV.
An unknown amount of marijuana and $10,000 in cash was stolen from the home, records show.
The trio was arrested later that night at a Shoreline hotel. Two guns wrapped in a towel and hidden in the back of a toilet were found inside the room, investigators said.
This story was originally published November 28, 2018 at 2:46 PM.