Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Four men are in custody in connection with an armed home invasion that left two of the suspects and a resident wounded.
Edward Martinez, 24, of Laureldale, and Erick Green, 21, of Reading, were charged with attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, theft, and related offenses, Pennsylvania State Police said early Wednesday morning.
Brandon Smith, 19, of Reading, was charged with aggravated assault, attempted burglary, conspiracy to commit robbery, and related offenses.
Each of the three suspects was committed to the Berks County Jail on $100,000.
The fourth suspect, Cheyene Tavarez, remains hospitalized with gunshot wounds to his chest and right arm. He is being detained on a parole violation. Charges for the home invasion are pending, police said.
The men, according to court documents, were driving around in a wooded area outside Reading early Tuesday morning when they conspired to pretend they were the police and rob the residents of a home on Mill Road in Oley Township.
Martinez, Green and Tavarez, two of whom were armed with guns, forced their way inside the home around 1 a.m., while Smith waited in the car outside, police said.
The men went upstairs and confronted the sleeping residents, one of whom retrieved his own handgun from a nightstand next to the bed and shot Martinez and Tavarez, the latter of whom dropped his own weapon, which was reported to have been stolen in Reading, police said.
The three intruders fled the home, got into the car with Smith and drove to Penn State Health St. Joseph on Route 183 in Bern Township, where the wounded suspects were dropped off at the hospital for treatment, police said.
Martinez was released from the hospital after being treated for his gunshot wound, while Tavarez remains hospitalized.
Police released hospital surveillance images of the car and the two uninjured suspects, both of whom were identified and arrested later in the day Tuesday.
The resident who shot the suspects also suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg during the exchange of gunfire inside the home, police said. He was treated and later released from Reading Hospital.
The victim's wife and 11-month-old son were not physically harmed, said police, adding that the residents were the suspects' unintended targets.