Two arrests have been made in connection with a home invasion last Friday morning where an Orange County couple was assaulted.
Authorities announced in a release on Tuesday that 36-year-old Jason O’Neal Brown and 25-year-old Jodeci Mustaffa Gaddy, both of Durham, had been arrested after multiple incidents across Durham, Orange and Person counties.
Two suspects broke into a home on Lucas Farm Lane in Orange County just after 2 a.m. Friday. Law enforcement officials said at the time that deputies arrived on the scene to find a man and woman in the home who had both been assaulted. The man was shot in the hand.
The suspects demanded money from the couple but there did not appear to be any items taken from the home.
Authorities said in Tuesday’s update that the Orange County home invasion seemed to come after a similar incident in Person County, where a woman was awoken by two men in her home. One of the suspects pointed a gun at the woman, according to law enforcement. The victim in the Person County break-in was struck in the face with the gun and reported she was sexually assaulted.
Person County Sheriff Dewey Jones said in a release the two sheriff’s offices began communicating after the two instances.
“Investigators from both agencies began talking, comparing the similarities between the home invasions,” Jones said in a release. “A break in the case came Saturday when a security camera near Northgate Mall in Durham recorded the suspects using a credit card stolen from the victim of the Person County home invasion.”
Officials said the suspects were interviewed by Orange County authorities and the two confessed “to both home invasions and countless car break-ins committed in Orange and Person Counties and in the Town of Hillsborough.”
Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said in a release that it is important to take safety precautions with your home and vehicle.
“These home invasions are like something we have never seen before,” Blackwood said. “The completely random nature of the crimes and violence used to effectuate them are sobering reminders of the importance of employing the simple tools available to safeguard your family, such as ensuring windows are secure, doors are locked, and home security systems, if present in the home, are activated. These very suspects told Investigators that they target unlocked homes and vehicles, which allow fast and easy access.”
Brown and Gaddy are both being held in the Person County Detention Center under a $2 million bond, according to law enforcement.
The two were charged by Orange County authorities with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary, two counts of assault by pointing a gun and breaking and entering a motor vehicle. Additional charges are pending, according to Orange County law enforcement.
The Person County Sheriff’s Office has charged the two with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary, first-degree forcible sex offense, attempted first-degree rape, attempted first-degree murder, larceny and breaking and entering a motor vehicle.
Law enforcement is reviewing stolen property recovered from the execution of search warrants in this case. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information related to these incidents is asked to contact investigator Jeff Ray with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office at (919) 245-2975.
Photos via Orange County Sheriff’s Office
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