HOLMES BEACH – Police are looking for three suspects in a home invasion that took place on Tuesday, Nov. 20, around 11 p.m. at 3602 Sixth Ave. There were no life-threatening injuries, but one of the occupants was hit in the head with a gun butt and another was thrown to the ground.
Officer Stephen Wolfe was driving through the shopping center near that address when he was flagged down by Christine Stumpf, 43, who lives at the home with four other victims. She told him about the invasion, according to a police report.
Stumpf said she was awake, looking at her new cell phone when she heard a knock at the door. She opened the door, and three suspects forced their way into the home. One of the suspects pushed her to the ground and began rifling through the residence, asking where the money and drugs were.
Stumpf said the suspects were two white males and one black male and one of them had a shotgun. They awakened the other four people in the home and forced all of them into the bathroom, where one of the residents, Scott Sobek, 42, was struck in the head by the shotgun when he tried to resist. He suffered a small laceration.
The other residents were Miranda Cunningham, 22; Amber Cunningham, 26; and Dale Marler, 69.
The suspects took two purses, two cell phones and a wallet and left on foot. The people in the home reported not hearing a car after they left.
According to the officer, all of the victims said they would not be able to identify the suspects. Two of the suspects reportedly wore hoodies and masks, but the victims could not give a description of the third suspect at all. They all wore gloves, so there were no fingerprints available. In addition to the shotgun, another suspect had a pistol which one of the victims described as “rounded.”
A Bradenton Beach officer and Manatee County deputies responded and set up a perimeter. The Sheriff’s Office sent a K-9 unit, but they did not deploy it because the victims said they would not be able to identify the suspects. The Sheriff’s Office helicopter flew over the area, but found nothing suspicious.
Holmes Beach Detective, Sgt. Brian Hall was called and responded and is investigating.
Anybody with information on this case is urged to call Hall at 708-5804.