DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – Four people accused of using guns in Decatur home invasions are in police custody.
Police say there were three home invasions in Decatur on the night of Nov. 20. They say the group of suspects decided to “get some guns and money” while driving around Decatur because arrest warrants were out against several of them and they wanted to get those things “before they go to jail”.
Officers arrested 18-year-old Rahiam Shabazz, 19-year-old Byron Theus, 18-year-old Dondrion Austin and a 16-year-old minor when police say they left the scene of the last home invasion. The statements say an unidentified male person was also with the group.
Sworn statements say each suspect was armed during the home invasions.
Officers say the first home invasion happened after 7 p.m. that night in the 400 block of Shadow Lane. They say a suspect approached a 60-year-old man who was standing in his open garage and pointed a gun at him before ordering him and his wife into their house. They’re accused of taking the man’s wallet and cell phone and demanding to know where guns were. Police say one of the men hit him in the back of the head with a gun.
In the second home invasion, which police say started after 9 p.m., the suspects are accused of coming up to a 33-year-old man sitting in his car and demanding money and guns. Police say the armed men made him leave his car and go to the front porch. When his mother heard noises and came outside, police say one of the men shoved her inside before she was hit in the face with a handgun.
Police say three of the suspects walked another man in the house to a bedroom and made more demands for cash and guns, then took a revolver from a drawer, along with at least $300 from his wallet and four phones. Sworn statements say three of those phones were cell phones and the fourth was a home phone.
Officers did not provide specifics about the third invasion, which they say happened at a N. 33rd St. address on the same night, in sworn statements.
Each of the adult suspects is facing home invasion, armed robbery and aggravated battery charges. The four people arrested are behind bars in Macon County, while the whereabouts of the fifth person are unclear.
