Times staff
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Detective Jason Jernigan was part of a Sheriff’s Office perimeter team, near Cortez Boulevard and WPA Road on Wednesday morning, involved with the apprehension of three men suspected in a home invasion Tuesday night on Weatherly Road.
BROOKSVILLE — Three men who might be suspects in a home invasion reported in a rural area east of Brooksville on Tuesday night were being questioned by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning, a resident called to report three men walking around an abandoned house on WPA Road, the Sheriff's Office said. The caller said the men appeared to be armed with guns.
After a search aided by police dogs and a Sheriff's Office helicopter, deputies found three men who matched the caller's description near Granat Street and Gordon Loop, just west of WPA. The men were not armed, but they were taken into custody for questioning, the Sheriff's Office said.
At 7:22 the night before, deputies responded to 9195 Weatherly Road, where Killean Johnson and Chad Varhaul, both 35, told investigators that three men had pushed their way into the house and punched both of them, said Sheriff's spokesperson Sgt. Donna Black.
The home invaders looked through the house and dumped Johnson's purse but did not take anything. Johnson and Varhaul said they did not see any weapons.
The incident does not appear to be random, the Sheriff's Office said, and the men might have targeted the house.
The names of the men in custody were not released pending the results of the investigation.
Johnson was treated at a local hospital for a cut on the back of her head. Varhaul did not seek treatment for an unspecified injury to his face.