Three teenagers, including one from Haverhill, were charged with home invasion, armed robbery while masked and other charges after an Andover man and woman were awakened at their home early Thursday morning and robbed at gunpoint.
Lucas C. Hill of Haverhill, Tyler C. Runge of Andover and Ashley J. Freda of Saugus, all 18-years-old, were charged by Andover Police with home invasion, armed robbery while masked, malicious destruction of property over $250, larceny over $250, carrying a dangerous weapon and possession of an electric stun gun, according to Police Chief Patrick Keefe in a statement released Friday.
“This appears to be an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public,” Keefe said.
Police were alerted when the department received a 911 hang up call at about 3:30 a.m., from a home on Regency Ridge. Police said dispatchers attempted to call back, but the line was abruptly disconnected.
Upon arriving at the home, an officer noticed taillights heading away from the house toward the end of the road’s cul-de-sac, but spoke first with the homeowners, described as “visibly shaken.” The couple said they were awoken by loud banging noises. When the man opened the door, one of the two male teenagers pointed a gun at him and demanded money, while another stood by in the home’s garage. It was later determined by police the female teenager was also in the home.
Once in the home, both homeowners were led back downstairs and forced to turn over the man’s wallet. The men took cash and fled. They were wearing sweatshirts, ski masks, gloves and carrying firearms.
Police tracked a car, finding it driven by Hill with Runge and Freda as passengers. Police seized two knives, a mask and two guns—an air soft gun and what appeared to be a machine pistol. The pistol is being sent to the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab for testing.
The teens were held at the Andover Police Department on $500,000 bail.