Two armed men broken into the home of a Tacoma couple Thursday evening and held them hostage for nearly three hours while they ransacked the home.

KIRO TV identified the victims as Remegio and Norma Fernandez, who said they were watching TV at about 6:40 p.m. when two men smashed in a glass door in the back of their house on South Ainsworth Avenue and 76th Street.

Both men were wearing bandannas and armed with a handgun, the couple said. The intruders held them hostage at gunpoint for nearly three hours while they conducted a destructive search for valuables. They …

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A third man charged in the home-invasion robbery of a 67-year-old Tacoma woman pleaded not guilty today in Pierce County Superior Court.

Monaroes Sar, 26, is charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and unlawful imprisonment. Commissioner Meagan Foley ordered Sar jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.

Prosecutors contend Sar and Jesse Eugene Grimes, 20, entered the home of Gabrele Senn the night of April 17 and held her at gunpoint. They first demanded her bank account information and PIN but were unable to access her money, court records show. They then ransacked her house and tried to make off …

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Tacoma police said two people were injured this afternoon after a drug deal turned into a home invasion robbery.

A man and woman went about 1 p.m. to the Cypress Cove apartments in the 1200 block of N. Pearl Street to buy drugs, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

A second man wearing a mask and carrying a handgun entered the apartment shortly after and began using duct tape to restrain the two men who live there.

“It went from trying to make a deal to a robbery,” Fulghum said.

Both victims were assaulted and one was pistol-whipped.

After the suspects …

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Authorities have released a sketch of a man who reportedly assaulted an elderly woman and tied up both her and her 3-year-old grandchild during a home invasion robbery in University Place on Monday morning.

The suspect posed as a deliveryman and punched the woman in the face when she answered the door to her home on the 1900 block of Westridge Avenue West. The robbery occurred at 10:10 a.m.

After the suspect let a second person into the home, they stole numerous items, including credit cards, documents, prescription medication and a gaming console.

One of the suspects held an object …

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Five people were arrested north of Puyallup following a chase early this morning stemming from an earlier home-invasion robbery at a Federal Way home.

Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock said police were called to the 500 block of South 330th Place about 12:30 a.m. by a person there who said several people who were armed forced their way into the home and assaulted the one of the occupants. That person was not seriously injured, she said.

The occupants in the house were a man and and woman and two children.

Schrock said the armed suspects fled the scene in a vehicle and …

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Lawyers delivered their closing arguments today in the murder trial of Kiyoshi Higashi, the man accused of killing Edgewood father Jim Sanders during a home-invasion robbery tied to a Craigslist advertisement.

The jury was given the case just before noon today.

We will report the verdict when the jury finishes its deliberations.

Read about the opening arguments here.

Read about Higashi’s testimony here.

MORE: During her closing argument, deputy prosecutor Karen Watson spent nearly an hour outlining for the jury the evidence she said shows Higashi is guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and two counts each of …

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Four teenagers suspected of breaking into the home of an elderly Tacoma woman and robbing her at gunpoint were charged as adults today with first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary.

Not guilty pleas were entered on behalf of Miguel Wayne Ramos, 17; Richard Benjamin Torres, 16; Vernon Lee Ward, 17; and Tervonn Bernard Rollins, 17; in Pierce County Superior Court.

The News Tribune generally does not publish the names of juveniles accused of crimes but is doing so in this case because the defendants are being prosecuted as adults.

Court Commissioner Patrick Oishi ordered Ward jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail …

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Three armed men wearing masks broke into a house in Parkland early this morning where a man and woman lived and operated a medical marijuana grow operation.

The two were not hurt, according to Pierce County Sheriff spokesman Detective Ed Troyer.

The robbery was the third home invasion reported this week in Pierce County.  The other two were in Tacoma – Monday night and  again early Wednesday morning.  Authorities have no idea if they are connected in any way.

Troyer said the three men who were wearing bandannas over their faces kicked in the front door …

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