Motive unclear in Sunset Park home invasion

A home invasion by armed intruders: It’s a nightmarish crime that fortunately seldom occurs–at least not without a good reason. And it’s that motive that has both police and the victim’s family thinking deeply tonight. News five’s Jacqueline Woods has the story.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Forty-three year old Anthony Lewis better known as Bobby remains in the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital with a bullet still lodged in his head. The injury is the result of an attempted kidnapping and shooting that occurred around eight on Monday night at the victim?s family?s property at mile eight and a half on the Western Highway in the community of Sunset Park. According to twenty-nine year old Leevan Lewis, who was beaten and his mouth and hands bound, he and his older brother were home sleeping when they were awakened by a loud banging on the front door. When Anthony opened the door four masked men entered the residence armed with a hand gun and a sawed off shotgun.

Leevan Lewis, Victim of Assault
?Same time the guys bust in with the gun and just start beat us. And right away they take the duct tape and start tape up my hand and my mouth and start beat us and tek we outta the house and bring we back here.?

It is clear from the mess that was left behind in the house, there was a struggle. Once outside in the back yard, Leevan says the men continued to harass them.

Leevan Lewis
?They grab my brother and tell my brother let?s go, let?s go. Weh the thing deh they deh? And my brother tell ah, we noh got nothing up yah. Tell ah, only the animals and thing weh we got fi feed up yah. Feed animals and tek care ah the old man farm.?

Leevan says the men continued to take them further back towards the bushes on the ninety-plus acre property but as they approach this walkway gate one of the men knocked him to the ground and then fired a shot. Leevan was not hit, but decided to play dead as the men continued to kick at him.

Leevan Lewis
?And they me kick me up and I still noh move. And they bust a next shot and I still noh move. And they seh, well he dead, mek we ker Bob dah back.?

Leevan says as he remained motionless on the ground, one of the men returned and started searching his clothes and stole a pliers that was in a tool case attached to his pants. The man then left and Leevan says that?s when he managed to make it out to the front and get help from neighbours who untied his hands. Leevan says he feared that his brother was killed because as he ran away, he heard a single gun shot in the direction of a swampy area where he last saw his brother being taken.

Bernadine Lewis, who lives in Belize City, says she was home when she heard that her brothers were in trouble and the family made the decision to drive out to the location to find Anthony in the dark.

Bernadine Lewis, Sister
?I started calling out, ?Bobbito, Bobbito.? And I keep calling and calling and after a while I heard him calling back but in a very, very low voice. He say, I deh yah. I say, okay, follow my voice. And I called and them we find him in a little crunch way walking with his clothes all wet. He was only in boxers and something tied around his neck. All I did was ask the guys to help me put him in the truck, because the same time the police they reach?

The men left behind a trail of evidence that extend from the back of the house to a swampy area situated some two hundred feet away. The items include a roll of duct tape, empty shell casings, clothes, foot prints, a shoe, and a mask that police believe they will be able to link to at least two of the suspects they have detained. According to reports, when the suspects were apprehended in the area sometime after the incident, they were wet and in possession of a crucial piece of evidence that placed them at the crime scene. The family says they do not know what the men wanted and deny reports that drugs may be involved.

Bernadine Lewis
?Because I don?t know my brother to be involved in crimes and things like that because he is always up here. Yes, he drinks and he would like?you know, as guys would drink and curse bad words and things like that, but it?s just between us, the family or so, he doesn?t go out there and interfere with people or anything like that.?

Leevan Lewis
?No, because we don?t have any drugs or nothing to the back here. The only thing, we got our animal and tek care of the farm and we got people come and swim by the waterhole. But police they want to say it?s drugs or so, but we don?t have drugs here or we noh have no problem with nobody or nobody have no problem with us.?

Today the family says they are dissatisfied about the way the police responded to the incident.

Bernadine Lewis
?It?s like they don?t even care because we are telling them that the evidence is there, all he did was just look at it and he said the forensic will come some time later on in the day. But we can?t just sit here and wait for them because we have my brother in the hospital now, we can?t just stay up here waiting for the police and then my brother there in the hospital, you know.?

A forensic team did show up at the property when we were at the location some thirteen hours after the incident. Police would not comment on a motive, but appeal to anyone who can assist to call Crime Stoppers at 0-800-922-TIPS. Jacqueline Woods for News Five.

According to the Lewis family, they believe someone was waiting for the assailants to help them get away because neighbors have told them that around the time of the incident, they noticed a car driving up and down the area with no headlights on. Police would not comment on the report. Meanwhile, Anthony Lewis has undergone surgery. The family says the doctors told them the next twenty-four hours will be critical but they remain optimistic about his full recovery.