Roommates beaten, robbed

Joseph Carter said he and Doug Moore were playing “Halo 2” on their Xbox 360 in the living room when they heard a loud bang and saw their roommate being escorted out of his bedroom by two masked men armed with baseball bats.

The masked men started shouting commands at the two in the living room, and the three roommates quickly realized they were about to be victims of a home-invasion robbery.

As first reported on spokesmanreview.com, Spokane police arrested a man, a woman and a juvenile Wednesday on suspicion of robbing the roommates at their apartment in the 2900 block of North Altamont.

Melissa Turner, 18, and Alan Robinson, 25, were each booked into Spokane County Jail for first-degree kidnapping, robbery, burglary and theft, police officials said.

Steven Eliason, 17, was being held at the Spokane’s juvenile detention center on the same four charges.

A fourth person is still being sought by police.

On Thursday, 22-year-old Carter was a little stunned as he talked about the previous night’s events.

“It was so surreal,” he said.

The masked men, who broke down the back door and escorted 19-year-old Jeff Clark into the living room, told the roommates to unplug the electronics such as stereo equipment, the video game and their computers, Carter said.

Clark, dressed only in socks and boxer shorts, was forced to carry several of the roommates’ possessions out to a car.

The robbers then forced the roommates into the back room, tied them up and began hitting them with their fists, Carter said.

In a short time, the suspects found a .22-caliber rifle in the home and held the men at gunpoint, said Spokane police Sgt. Joe Peterson.

“We all got hit,” Carter said. But 19-year-old Moore and Clark were hit more times than Carter, who faked an asthma attack to try and get the robbers to leave him alone.

Moore and Clark were taken to a hospital where they were treated for head injuries and released, police said.

But police said Wednesday wasn’t the first time one of the suspects had been to the home.

Within the last week, Peterson said, Eliason had gone to the home and asked to borrow a screwdriver to fix his car, and while inside he commented about the Xbox.

Peterson said Eliason then allegedly talked to various people to see how much money he could get for each of the items he planned to steal from the home before going through with the robbery.

The video game player, along with laptop computers, musical instruments, cell phones and two cars were stolen, Peterson said.

Carter said after the robbers left, the roommates were able to free themselves and called police from a nearby apartment.

Police tracked the suspects and retrieved most of the stolen goods within 24 hours of the robbery, officials said.