An 18-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly plotting a violent home invasion where a young man was shot over a personal “beef” at a West El Paso apartment, court officials said.
The apartment resident, who is also 18, lost a kidney when he was shot in the back during the robbery on the night of July 14 at the Tuscany at Mesa Hills apartments, 415 S. Mesa Hills Drive, a prosecutor said at a teleconference bond hearing on Aug. 11.
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Two men wearing black ski masks and hoods forced their way into the apartment in the case, which was featured as the Crime of the Week by Crime Stoppers of El Paso two weeks ago.
El Paso police officials have not said if the second home invader, who allegedly had the gun and was the shooter, has been arrested. The names of those involved have not been disclosed.
El Paso home invasion involved teens
The home invasion was “a particularly ugly premeditated type of case,” Assistant District Attorney John Briggs said at Sunday’s bond hearing for the accused plotter, who was arrested on charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and burglary with the intent to commit a felony.
“The defendant may not have been the one wielding the gun; but, he was the one who put this whole thing in motion because he wanted to get back at the complaining witness (shooting victim) because he believes the complaining witness sexually assaulted his girlfriend in the past,” Briggs said.
The plotter came up with a “fairly elaborate scheme” to have a 15-year-old girl contact the intended target, Briggs said. The girl is a friend of the plotter.
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The two intruders jumped a fence into the apartment complex when the girl went to the apartment in a ruse, Briggs said.
While in the apartment, the girl received a phone call and stepped outside, leaving the door open for the two masked intruders to enter, Briggs said. Security video recorded the intruders outside the apartment.
When the intruders burst in, the resident ran into a room and locked the door, but it was kicked down by the invaders who went in at gunpoint, Briggs said.
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The burglars began looting the victim’s closet, telling him to give up valuables. The resident attempted to run out and escape. But the front door was locked and he was shot in the back, Briggs said.
The young man was hospitalized with a gunshot wound and lost a kidney, said Briggs, adding that the case would be murder if the gunman had not been a poor shot.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Teen arrested in El Paso home invasion shooting at Tuscany apartments
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