Lakewood man recounts terrifying home invasion, opening fire on intruders
LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- The second and final suspect in a brutal Lakewood home invasion was arrested Friday in Des Moines, police said.
The 17-year-old suspect was booked into the Pierce County Jail on manslaughter, kidnapping and other charges, police said.
On Thursday, the other suspect, 19-year-old Duprea Romon Wilson, pleaded not guilty to the same charges stemming from Tuesday night's Lakewood home invasion in which a couple in their 60s were hit and tied up before the husband got loose, freed his wife and shot one of the intruders.
A third suspect died from gunshot wounds inflicted by the homeowner.
The home invasion took place late Tuesday night, when three male intruders dressed in black knocked on the door and then forced their way into the home of Harry Lodholm, 62, and his 66-year-old wife in the 11000 block of Briar Road SW.
He was struck in the head twice with what was believed to be a handgun and then felt the barrel of a gun being shoved into the back of his neck as he was forced to the ground.
"They were looking for weed and money and gold, is what they kept on saying," Lodholm said in an interview Friday night.
One of the intruders kicked his way into the locked bathroom, where Lodholm's wife had been taking a bath. She told the police the intruder had a knife and cut her hand as she was trying to defend herself. She was then dragged out, nude, and her and her husband were tied up with electrical cords in the living room, they said.
"The barrel of a pistol at the base of my skull and threatening to kill me and then one of the guys, speaking of my wife, said, 'Why don`t you just shoot her in the head?' And he repeated that two or three times," Harry Lodholm said.
The assailants ransacked the house and, as they walked out the front door to load up their getaway car, Lodholm was able to free himself, lock the front door, free his wife and flee into the bedroom as the intruders forced their way back into the house.
The assailants were trying to get into the bedroom, but Lodholm had retrieved his handgun from his lock box and warned them not to come in. But two of the assailants forced the door open and he opened fire, he told police.
"They were armed. I armed myself and so I didn`t waste too much time when they broke the door down and started coming towards us," Lodholm said. "I fired two shots. They said, 'We got to get out of here.' They left and within a minute or less the police arrived.
"We thought they (the intruders) were going to kill us," he added.
See our earlier story on this incident >>> 'Don't come in or you will be shot!' man tells home invaders.
The body of one of the alleged assailants, Taijon Voorhees, was later found in a apartment parking lot in Federal Way. Voorhees had two gunshot wounds, one to his lower stomach area and one lower. He had been hit by the shots fired by Lodholm.
Police said an informant who had contact with Wilson after Voorhees' body was discovered said Wilson reported they had been erroneously told by Lakewood gangsters that they would find marijuana and money at the Lakewood homeowner's house.
Despite the terrifying ordeal, Lodholm said he and his wife, Janice, refuse to live in fear.
"I can't say it won't affect us, but we just want to get on with our lives and put it behind us," Lodholm said.