invasion120807

Masked bandits invade Brooklyn Center townhouse

Police say break-in does not appear random

Star Tribune

Last update: December 8, 2007 - 1:28 AM

With guns drawn, the masked intruders entered a Brooklyn Center townhouse late Thursday night, handcuffing one of the home’s three occupants and sealing his mouth with duct tape.

Another occupant fled the home and called 911, and almost as quickly as the intruders had arrived, they were gone, Brooklyn Center police Lt. Kevin Benner said Friday. Nobody was hurt and nothing apparently was stolen, Benner said, “but this was not a common crime.”

Reports of the number of masked intruders varied: One of the three adult occupants of the home told a 911 dispatcher that there were two; another occupant said there were five. This much is known: The intruders demanded something, and Brooklyn Center police suspect that they knew the three adults living in the usually quiet Marvin Gardens Town Homes complex on the 6700 block of Noble Lane.

According to police reports, the rental property was invaded at 10:56 p.m., with two of the three occupants present and the third at a home nearby. One was able to flee almost immediately and called 911, Benner said.

Although police squad cars were just around the corner and a SWAT team was quickly within 20 feet of the door, the intruders had already fled — probably within five minutes of entering the home, Benner said.

The handcuffed man — with his hands secured in front of him — was able to get out of the home and also call 911, another indicator that the intruders left quickly, Benner said.

While authorities will use DNA on the handcuffs and duct tape as evidence, they are convinced that this was not the usual robbery — not with guns drawn, at an hour when the occupants were still awake, and not with the invaders demanding specific property.

The occupants did not immediately describe to police the nature of that property, Benner said.

“This was not a random person selected,” Benner said of the adults living in the townhouse. “With handcuffs … this had to be planned. “Brooklyn Center police are investigating a home invasion in which as many as five masked intruders broke into a residence late Thursday night.

Paul Levy