MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Prosecutors charged a trio of Seattle men this month suspected of committing home-invasion robberies from Seattle to Mountlake Terrace.
Elan Lockett, 27, Rodney Smith, 21, and Tyler Taylor, 20, were each charged with four counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count each of first-degree burglary.
Around 4:30 a.m. Jan. 15, at least three men allegedly broke into a home near 236th Street SW, according to the charges filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.
A couple reportedly awoke to find one of the men pointing a pistol at them. The husband reported seeing three suspects, while the wife described seeing four, court documents said.
Two of the men held the couple and their children at gunpoint, while the others searched the house. The men forced the couple to give them their credit card PIN code. At least two left the house in the family’s BMW to withdraw more than $2,000 from their accounts at a Bank of America in Shoreline, court papers said.
One of the men, upon learning the family owned a pet lizard, remarked that he also owned a lizard, the charges say.
The men took more than $21,000 worth of valuables from the family, police said.
Investigators found a cell phone in the yard that did not belong to the family. Cell phone data showed it traveled from Lockett’s neighborhood in West Seattle to near the family’s residence about 20 miles away, according to the charges.
Data from the phone revealed it then moved to the Shoreline area where the suspects reportedly used the family’s bank cards at the ATM.
Around 11 a.m. Jan. 15, the cell phone number switched to become associated with a different phone, court documents said. The cell phone communicated with Taylor during the burglary.
Ten days after the home invasion, police obtained a search warrant and searched Taylor’s home after he was arrested in a separate case where he was accused of threatening someone with a firearm, according to court documents. Police reportedly found a pistol mounted with a gun light and a laser. Investigators also seized his phone.
During the search, police observed a pet lizard in Taylor’s bedroom, according to court papers.
A month later, Smith pawned a pair of Beats headphones at a pawnshop in Auburn, prosecutors wrote. The headphones had the same serial number as a pair stolen from the family’s house.
On March 20, Seattle police arrested Smith and Taylor in connection to a different home invasion in King County allegedly committed in December. Mountlake Terrace police arrested Lockett.
Lockett denied knowing the other suspects. Police found a stolen JBL speaker in Smith’s living room. During Taylor’s arrest, police observed Taylor trying to get rid of a pistol equipped with a switch that turned the weapon fully automatic, court documents said.
On March 22, King County prosecutors charged Smith and Taylor in the King County robbery. That alleged home invasion followed a similar modus operandi to the Mountlake Terrace case, according to court documents. Lockett has not been charged in the King County case.
Smith is the only one of the three with a felony conviction as an adult, for possession of a stolen vehicle in Yakima County in 2021, court records show.
On Friday, only one of the suspects, Lockett, was in custody at the Snohomish County Jail, where he was held on $1 million bail. Earlier this month, Judge Anita Farris issued arrest warrants for Smith and Taylor.
As of this week, police had not located the potential fourth robber believed to be involved in the Mountlake Terrace home invasion, according to the Mountlake Terrace Police Department.
Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @snocojon.
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