Home invasion robbery happened after man refused to buy back his own stolen cellphone, charges say
A man who refused to buy back his own stolen cellphone was then robbed in his Lakewood home by the people who tried to make the deal, court records allege.
Charging papers in Pierce County Superior Court give this account of what happened:
A woman called 911 about 1:30 a.m. Dec. 12 to say that two men took electronics, money and her husband’s wallet from their apartment.
One fired a shot outside before the suspects fled.
The husband told police he knew the men “from previously being involved in the sale of narcotics,” the declaration for determination of probable cause said.
The men called him, saying they wanted to sell him back his cellphone, which went missing a few weeks prior when the apartment was burglarized.
Yes, he told the men. He would like his phone back.
But no, he wouldn’t buy it.
One of the men then showed up at the apartment. The husband told him to go to the back and was worried that the man might not be alone. Soon after there was a gunshot sound from the back door, and both suspects went into the apartment. One held the husband and wife at gunpoint, while the other grabbed laptops and cellphones. The men also took $1,000 from the husband’s wallet.
He told police he didn’t know why the men would rob him. He hadn’t had trouble with them before.
Police arrested one suspect, a 25-year-old man, about a week later. He pleaded not guilty at arraignment to first-degree burglary and first-degree robbery.
He said he’d called the husband at the direction of the other suspect and asked if he wanted his phone back.
Then he said they went to the apartment. He said there hadn’t been a plan to take things. The other suspect, who had the gun, told him what to do.
The other suspect, a 32-year-old man also charged with first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, was booked into jail Friday.
