City police searched Monday for a third suspect in a home invasion and burglary on Cleveland Avenue that injured three people and led to the arrest of two New York City men.
Two days after police interrupted what was described as an armed invasion by men wielding golf clubs and a knife, two of the alleged assailants appeared in Rutland criminal court where they answered to 14 collective charges.
Daniel I. Martinez-Pineda, 32, pleaded innocent to eight felony charges and a misdemeanor, while Alexander Jiminez, 26, pleaded innocent to five felony charges.
The charges, which included multiple felonies for allegedly beating and restraining two women and a man inside a duplex at 80 Cleveland Ave., prompted Judge Cortland Corsones to set bail at $200,000 for both men.
“These are obviously very serious offenses with significant amounts of violence and threats of violence,” Corsones said before setting bail.
While the two men were in court, city police searched for a third intruder, described by the three victims as a 6-foot-tall man who entered the home with a T-shirt wrapped around part of his face. From what they could see, the man was pale white with brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a white T-shirt under a black hoodie, blue jeans and work boots.
The men spoke in Spanish to one another while in the home, city police Detective David LaChance said. Anyone with information about the missing suspect is asked to call LaChance at 773-1816.
While the third suspect remained at large Monday, LaChance said he didn’t believe that additional home intrusions were likely.
“This wasn’t a random thing. It wasn’t a complete stranger kind of thing. They knew the one guy in charge,” he said, adding that Martinez-Pineda had been inside the home before.
But the two women who share the home, 28-year-old Jennifer Lizotte and Tina Bielski, 30, said Monday that they had only met Martinez-Pineda twice before.
Lizotte and Bielski said they were watching a movie in their home with Bielski’s step-father, Scott Cook, 41, when they heard someone enter through the back door.
Believing that it was her son and daughter returning home, Lizotte said she went into the kitchen where she says she found Jiminez and the unknown man holding golf clubs and Martinez-Pineda holding a knife.
“They said you can do this soft or hard,” she said.
Lizotte said she was shoved into the living room where the three men ordered Cook onto his knees so they could duct-tape his arms behind his back and gag him.
Lizotte said she tried to call the police but had her cellphone wrenched from her hand. When Bielski tried to comfort one of her dogs after one of the men struck it, she said she was hit in the face with a golf club and shoved to the ground where Lizotte joined her moments later after one of the men allegedly grabbed her by the hair and forced her to the floor.
The home invasion lasted an estimated 20 minutes, during which time Cook was kicked in the face and the women were kicked in the back and threatened with rape and harm to Lizotte’s children who were not present.
Cook and the two women were taken to Rutland Regional Medical Center but all three were released the following day.
LaChance said the motive for the home invasion appeared to be robbery, with a 55-inch television, prescription drugs and money among the items still missing.
The detective said the crime was interrupted when a neighbor heard the commotion next door and called police in the belief that a family fight was taking place.
But when an officer knocked on the door shortly after 8 p.m., he was met with cries from the three captives who begged him to break down the door.
The alleged home invaders fled out the back door pursued by city police who say they arrested Jiminez walking on Park Avenue a block away. Martinez-Pineda was allegedly found hiding in bushes behind a warehouse on Cleveland Avenue, police said.
“They were lucky, very lucky,” LaChance said of the captives. “The neighbor’s call stopped it from maybe getting a lot worse.”
brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com
No comments:
Post a Comment