INDIAN TRAIL, NC — A violent home invasion. Masked men with assault weapons and a laser sight rob a home in Indian Trail. It happened as kids were sleeping down the hall.
The victims are talking to WCCB Charlotte about what happened, and how they tracked down one of the suspects.
“They had the assault rifle on me. All I saw was that red light,” says Jenel Curd. “And I’m pregnant.”
It’s a night Billy and Jenel Curd will never forget.
A normally quiet neighborhood in Indian Trail was anything but the night of June, 5th. Three men, wearing either masks or bandannas, made their way up the side of a house on Lauren Drive. They went through the gate and in through the back door. They had assault weapons with a laser sighting, and they knew what they were looking for.
“With a mask on, with an assault rifle pointed at us, and says you know ‘hands up don’t move’,” says Billy Curd. “So we’ve got our hands up, and then another gentleman went into the bedroom, grabbed some stuff, and then ran out. And it was in and out, 30 seconds.”
The criminal crew took a safe, left the home, and they were gone.
But the Union County Sheriff’s Office found their suspects. 17-year old Nic Upton, 18-year olds Cameron White and Zane Cassell–all from Matthews–and Alexander Saint Clair from Columbia, South Carolina.
Investigators say they pulled off the heist, but the information came from 34-year-old Ronald Foster, a good friend of victim Billy Curd. He and his wife used to baby-sit the Curd’s kids.
“From what was taken, there were only two people who knew where it was. Him and his wife, basically,” says Billy.
“He knew about the safe, so he in turn solicited Mr. Upton to commit this robbery. And then Mr. Upton in turn sought some help from these other three individuals,” says Captain Ronnie Whitaker of the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
When Jenel Curd found out suspect Nic Upton’s name, she took to social media.
“One guy had the very distinct mask. I described it as a baby mask,” says Jenel. “I looked on his twitter page and found the mask. He put a picture of himself with the mask on the same day. It says ‘can’t see me’.”
“You look at these pictures and, you know, it’s like, why? You know they’re basically wanting to ruin their lives,” says Capt. Whitaker.
Investigators tell WCCB the three suspects who live in Matthews met the fourth from Columbia by playing X-BOX games online.
