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2 men charged in 2 Sarasota home invasions

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TBO.com

Published: May 2, 2009

Updated: 05/02/2009 08:37 pm

Christopher Sellars

James Stephens

SARASOTA - Two men are accused in two home invasions, and in one they were wielding machine guns, authorities said.

On Friday, police say, Christopher Sellars and James Stephens entered a house at 760 S. Shade Ave., and forced the occupants, 82-year-old Marilyn Jones and her son, Tony, onto the living room floor at gunpoint.

"The front door was open except for the screen, and they just popped the lock on that and charged in and started telling us to get down, get down," Jones told WFLA News Channel 8. "I didn't move fast enough, I guess, for them, and they hit me in the head with the butt of the gun."

The victims were tied up with electrical cord and the suspects ransacked the house, stealing all the cash they could find and televisions, according to police and the victims.

The robbers forced Tony Jones to load the stolen goods into his 1994 Ford Focus, which they used to flee. Deputies found the abandoned car in the area of Leonard Road and 32nd Street a short time later.

Sellars, 25, and Stephens, 20, are charged with armed home invasion robbery, aggravated battery and grand theft auto.

Tony Jones was left stunned by the experience.

"It was like I was in a dream or something, something you'd see on TV," Jones said. "You take all the precautions, you know, but in broad daylight you just don't expect something like that."

"They were real agitated, you know, so you just did what they said,"

Sellars and Stephens also are accused in a home invasion Thursday night at 2329 53rd St., the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said.

In that incident, a 39-year-old man reported that two suspects knocked on his door and pushed their way in, the sheriff's office said. They beat and stabbed the victim before kidnapping him and taking his van.

After the pair abandoned the victim and the van, the victim returned home and called the sheriff's office.

In Thursday night's incident, Sellars and Stephens face charges including home invasion robbery, aggravated battery and kidnapping, the sheriff's office said.

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