Everett robbery terrified victims

EVERETT — She thought she was going to die.

The woman was one of four people tied up at gunpoint in a Silver Lake home during a home-invasion robbery last week, police said.

For 15 minutes, three strangers threatened murder as they rifled through belongings.

“She really thought she was not going to make it through that incident,” Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

Police believe the victims were not the intended target. Instead the suspects wound up at the wrong place and still went forward with their crime.

Now, police are asking for the public’s help to identify the men responsible. Two composite drawings of the suspects were released Thursday.

It all started about 9:30 p.m. Aug. 21 when a man was leaving a home in the 1600 block of 112th Street SE. He was confronted by three men who forced him back into the home at gunpoint, Goetz said.

Four people were inside: a couple, 24 and 23, who live there and a second couple, 37 and 24, who were visiting.

The suspects tied the group up and threatened to kill them while they ransacked the home for a quarter-hour, Goetz said.

The three suspects fled in an unknown vehicle with numerous items from the home, he said. Detectives would not say what was taken.

Police believe the suspects wound up at the wrong place.

“What it does look like possibly is a mistaken location by the suspects,” Goetz said. “We don’t have any reason to believe the victims in this case were targeted.”

The first suspect, believed to be the group leader, is described as a light-skinned black man in his early- to mid-20s, about 6 feet to 6 feet, 3 inches tall, weighing about 185 pounds. He had a goatee and was wearing a dark-colored baseball cap with a dark-colored bandana or handkerchief under his hat. He also was wearing a dark blue or black flannel shirt.

The second suspect is described as a light-skinned black man in his 20s, about 5 feet, 8 inches to 6 feet tall with a thin build, weighing about 165 pounds. He was wearing a blue hat and blue sweatshirt. He also was wearing round, gold-framed glasses. His front teeth appeared to be covered with gold caps.

The third suspect is described as a man, about 5 feet, 5 inches to 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing as much as 180 pounds, with very short hair and a chubby face. He was wearing a blue or grey sweatshirt. The victims didn’t get a good look at the man.

Detectives with Everett’s major crime unit are investigating.

“We haven’t experience a whole lot of home-invasion robberies like this in the city,” Goetz said. “It certainly scared the four victims that were involved.”