A Rochester man accused of participating in a home invasion two months ago has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Tirone Deshawn Ruth, 33, pleaded guilty in June to possession of a handgun after conviction for a crime of violence. In exchange for the plea, two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of attempted aggravated first-degree robbery were dismissed.
Olmsted County District Court Judge Kathy Wallace on Friday handed down a 60-month prison term, with credit for 53 days served.
The charges stemmed from an incident about 2:15 a.m. May 12, when dispatchers received a call from a person who said that masked men had forced their way into the home in the 2200 block of Park Lane Southeast moments earlier. The caller was hiding under a blanket in a bedroom and was able to make the call, Capt. John Sherwin said.
According to the report, the masked suspects had entered the home where a number of people, including three children, were sleeping. The adults were rounded up and taken to a small room, where they were told to lay on the floor and were held at gunpoint, Sherwin said. The intruders were apparently looking for someone who wasn't in the home.
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The children slept through the incident, the report says.
A man who was in the home devised a plan to get them out, Sherwin said, telling the suspects that he'd take them to where they could get some money.
By the time they were leaving the house, officers had begun to arrive, Sherwin said. The resident was the first one out of the house; when he saw police, he immediately laid down on the ground, the report says.
When the suspect walking behind the man — later identified as Ruth — saw officers, he ran back inside, threw the gun he was holding, then laid down with the others and pretended to be a victim, Sherwin said.
A second suspect jumped out of a window and ran. Officers gave chase, but the man was able to make it to a dark SUV that quickly left the area, the report says. Other responding officers saw the SUV, but by the time they were able to get turned around, the vehicle had been abandoned.
Two handguns were recovered at the scene, Sherwin said.
A review of Ruth's criminal history reveals a 2012 conviction for felony simple robbery. He was sentenced in June of that year to 33 months in prison, with credit for 108 days served. The sentence was a result of multiple probation violations from a 2007 incident.
