WILMINGTON — Wilmington police arrested three suspects, and additional charges and more arrests are possible in an alleged home invasion Friday.
Police received a 911 call from a Kentucky Avenue home at about 12:50 p.m. where a man said suspects were beating him. He also described the vehicles the suspects were in.
Police said Jean Ann Barnhill, 21, along with four other adults and one juvenile, had come to the home demanding some items back from her ex-boyfriend.
Before even arriving at the scene, officers en route, WPD Det. Codey Juillerat and Sgt. Bob Martin, spotted a suspect vehicle they recognized at Spring and Fulton Streets which contained several of the suspects who, after they were stopped, told police they arrived at the man’s home to retrieve items and that the homeowner had threatened them with a rifle.
However, video footage from the alleged victim’s Ring doorbell camera tells another story — one that police say could have been resolved either as a civil case or after a call for a WPD peacekeeper.
“They [the suspects] kind of twisted the story,” said WPD Det. Bob Wilson.
Police said the video clearly shows Barnhill outside on the front porch banging on the door and demanding items, while one of the men outside attempted to kick down the front door and another threatened to break the front window with a chain.
The homeowner repeatedly told the suspects to leave, then opened the front door and displayed a rifle and told them to leave his property. Police say one of the suspects then slapped the rifle from his hands, and all six suspects then quickly entered the home.
Police said the victim received lacerations to his face during the altercation, and the victims took his rifle as well as a TV, both of which police say they later recovered from the suspects.
Barnhill along with Joshua Rodriguez, 20, and Jonathan Rodriguez, 25, are currently in the Clinton County Jail facing felony 1 aggravated burglary charges, with more charges possible after the case is reviewed by a grand jury.
Charges are also possible for the other adult suspects as well as the juvenile suspect, police said.
