Witnesses describe a similar-looking car in both places.
View full sizeMembers of the Oswego County SWAT return to their base after entering a home on Cherry St. in Phoenix Thursday.Phoenix, NY -- Two apparent attempts today at home invasion robberies in two different counties may be related, police in both counties said. The incidents are linked by a similar description of a car seen at both locations.
The first incident took place this morning in the Casual Estates trailer park in Clay and the second took place this afternoon on Cherry Street in the village of Phoenix.
Two shots were fired inside the Phoenix apartment, but the resident of that apartment managed to escape and call 911, Phoenix Police Chief Rod Carr said.
Carr was the first responding officer to the Phoenix call and escorted the first-floor resident out of the house. She was greatly afraid, he said.
Carr also made several attempts by bullhorn to contact suspects believed to still be in the house.
A SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) unit from the Oswego County Sheriff's Office entered the home after 2 p.m. and determined that no one was inside.
State police had blocked off Cherry Street for about two hours during the afternoon standoff, which 911 said began at 12:31 p.m.
The Clay incident occurred about 10:30 a.m. at 2001 Clacton Court, Onondaga County sheriff’s Sgt. John D’Eredita said. The victim, a man in his 30s, was riding a bicycle when he saw two men dressed in black with ski masks crouching in the front yard of his home, D’Eredita said.
The victim confronted the men and both men displayed what appeared to be handguns. A scuffle ensued, D’Eredita said, and during it, one of the suspects used pepper spray on the victim. Both men then ran toward a wooded area, D’Eredita said.
After the two suspects made it to the woods, witnesses reported hearing a gunshot from the woods, D’Eredita said. Two other witnesses told police that they saw males matching the descriptions of the suspects get into a white Ford Taurus with a maroon rear bumper and a blue hood. The suspects were last seen speeding north on Route 57.
In Phoenix, a white car, possibly a Ford, with a different-colored hood may have been outside with someone acting as a lookout, Carr said. The suspects displayed a silver handgun in Phoenix, Carr said.
The suspects in the Clay incident were described as two black men wearing dark, hooded sweatshirts and dark ski masks. The first is reported as being 5 foot 4 inches and 5 foot 5 inches and weighing between 140 and 150 pounds. The second is reported as being 5 foot 8 and 5 foot 10 inches and weighing about 160 pounds.
The suspects are similar in both cases, Oswego County Sheriff Reuel Todd said.
Carr said he was around the corner from the house when he got the 911 dispatch concerning shots fired inside the Cherry Street house.
Carr said he was grateful for the response by state police and sheriff's deputies.
“I was here all by myself and all it took was a phone call,” he said.
The Phoenix Central School District had placed its schools in "lockout" during the incident, the district office said. Students were allowed to walk within the school, but were not allowed outside.
Cherry Street was blocked off by state police for about two hours.
The Clay resident was treated for exposure to pepper spray and that was the only injury in both incidents, police said. Nothing was taken in the Clay incident and it was unknown what the two suspects were looking for in the Phoenix incident.