Cops seek home invasion suspect

Published 11:15 am Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Police are searching for a 24-year-old Austin man as the final suspect in a February armed home invasion.

A complaint warrant was issued on Thursday for Goaner Riek Weang. Once he is found, he faces charges of first-degree aggravated robbery, first-degree burglary with a dangerous weapon and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

Chany Paul Anade, 21, was convicted of first-degree burglary with a dangerous weapon and second-degree assault last week in Mower County court. He was sentenced to 51 months in prison for the burglary.

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Two other men allegedly involved in the burglary — Kevin Michael Lyke, 20, and Ochudho Jamal Ojulu, 21 — pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the home invasion. Both men entered not guilty pleas to aggravated robbery, burglary with a dangerous weapon and second-degree assault on Thursday.

The home invasion took place around 11 p.m. on Feb. 27, when police received a report of a small group of men breaking into a house in the 800 block of Eighth Avenue SW. According to court documents, an adult in the home told police one of the men had a shotgun.

The men demanded money and marijuana, and when they were unable to find either, they took a cell phone and a laptop.

The suspects’ trail grew cold until April 12, when one of the victims told police she recognized a suspect from a March shooting as one of the men from the February burglary.

Police investigated, and found that Lyke’s shoe prints matched at both scenes, according to a court complaint.

When officers spoke with Lyke, he admitted he and Ojulu Obang Onyongo, 20, were involved in the February incident. Lyke told police the target was a “marijuana dealer” and the men brought two guns.

Lyke also told police that Weang had bragged about another armed invasion in the Pacific Northwest in which he had burglarized a convenience store and the clerk was shot. Lyke said Weang showed him video footage of the shooting online, according to a court complaint.