Warsaw police arrested three individuals yesterday for a forced entry home invasion.
At approximately 9:20 a.m. Monday, Nov. 7, Warsaw Police responded to Oak Brooke Place on the east side of Warsaw for a home invasion that had just occurred.
The homeowner told police that her neighbor, Daricus Phillips, knocked on her door asking if her nephew was there, to which she replied that he was not. A few moments later, Phillips knocked on the door again and when the homeowner answered, Phillips and another male, with a red bandana covering his face, forced their way into the home asking again for her nephew and asking where the money was.
After responding that there was no money, the man with the red bandana struck the homeowner in the face with an object wrapped in a towel. The homeowner and the intruders argued, waking the homeowner’s fiancé, who confronted the intruders. He was also struck in the face with the object in the towel.
The homeowner believed that the object in the towel was a gun, but it was later discovered to be a crow bar after the intruders dropped the towel.
The intruders eventually fled after taking a Playstation 4, a cell phone, cash and some marijuana.
The homeowner and her fiancé complained of pain but did not require medical treatment.
Police searched the area and found Phillips and his girlfriend, Taylor Brandon, at a nearby gas station and took them into custody and interviewed them.
A consensual search of cell phones found messages of drug activity between the homeowner’s nephew and the suspects. Phillips confessed that he and Jwain Sullivan committed the robbery because of drugs and money. The stolen marijuana was located on Phillips.
Sullivan was located in a traffic stop near Winona Lake and a resulting search warrant located the stolen articles at Sullivan’s residence on E. Sandy Drive. More drug paraphernalia was also located at Sullivan’s residence.
Phillips, 20, of Warsaw, was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on a charge of robbery with a deadly weapon or bodily injury, a level 3 felony. He was also wanted on a misdemeanor warrant for failure to appear. He is being held on a $20,613.50 bond.
Sullivan, 22, of Warsaw, was booked on charges of robbery with a deadly weapon or bodily injury, a level 3 felony; Residential entry, a level 6 felony; and misdemeanor driving while suspended. He is being held on a $20,250.00 bond.
Brandon, 18, of Mentone, was booked on charges of robbery with a deadly weapon or bodily injury, a level 3 felony; Aiding/inducing or causing a felony. She is being held on a $20,250.00 bond.
Warsaw Police were assisted in their investigation by the Indiana State Police and the Winona Lake Police Department.
