MESA, Ariz. — Police have made multiple arrests after four suspects allegedly gained entry into a Mesa home Monday and assaulted the residents as they ransacked the apartment, court records show.
Nakeem Evens, 25, and Charles Bartlett, 19, are facing multiple felony charges after they were connected to a violent burglary reported earlier this week at an apartment complex near University Drive and Sossaman Road.
Court records show Evens, Bartlett and two others allegedly got inside the apartment through an unlocked patio door and pepper-sprayed the home's two sleeping residents.
The victims were then bound with duct tape and one of them had her hair cut off by the intruders, records show.
Over the next hour, the intruders allegedly ransacked the apartment and began taking personal items from the victims. Witnesses told police they observed the suspects carrying items out of the residence, records show.
Another person came home and walked in on the robbery and was allegedly attacked by some of the suspects. The third victim fired his gun in self-defense, which reportedly injured two of the suspects.
One of the suspects allegedly told police the four of them had traveled from North Carolina to Arizona and surveilled the victims before carrying out the burglary.
Court records show the suspect had been invited to the victims' home before the incident and allegedly told them he was interested in working with them. During this visit, the suspect allegedly left a patio door unlocked so he and the other suspects could later get inside the apartment.
The suspects are facing charges of kidnapping, robbery, and burglary.