LANCASTER CO., Pa. – An 18-year-old Reading man is facing charges after police say he and another suspect broke into a Warwick Township home, held two teenagers at gunpoint, and sparked a chase that ended in a crash.
On Sunday around 6:52 p.m., the Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department patrol division was dispatched to the first block of Edgewood Drive for a report of a suspicious vehicle in the area, according to police.
They said a witness reported that they saw two men exit a vehicle wearing all back and left the vehicle running. During an investigation, it was reported that a man wearing all black and a partial face mask entered a residence in the first block of Hurst Boulevard. without authorization. The man was reported to have a handgun and wanted to know where the victim’s safe and cash were located, according to officials.
Authorities say during the interaction, the victim pulled down the facemask of the suspect, who struck the victim in the face with his pistol. It was reported that they went to the living room where another suspect man was holding two 14-year-old juveniles at gunpoint with a rifle. The adult victim identified the second suspect’s voice and knew him as “Hector.”
Police say both armed suspects fled the house on foot, and the adult victim chased them in a white SUV. At this time, patrol officers arrived on the scene and saw the two masked men running from the area. During the foot pursuit, officers say one suspect man fired his handgun in the air.
Officers saw one man get into a Toyota Camry, and the other man got into a silver vehicle, which was rammed by the victim’s SUV. The suspects fled the scene, and officers located one of the vehicles, which had crashed near Rothsville Road and Meadow Valley Road.
Patrol officers say they took one man into custody and recovered a rifle from the vehicle. The man was identified as Hector Luis Martinez, 18, of Reading. Martinez was charged with burglary, criminal trespass and recklessly endangering another person among other related charges, according to authorities.
There were no reported injuries from the discharge of the firearm.
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with additional information is urged to call the Northern Lancaster County Police Department at 717-733-0965.