Intruders steal cash and guns

Intruders steal cash, guns in Manatee home invasion
TBO.com
Manatee County sheriff's deputies are looking for two shotgun-wielding intruders who stole more than $1,000 in cash, a pair of guns, some jewelry and a pickup truck this morning after using duct tape to bind three victims. No one was physically injured in the home invasion that occurred in the 3200 block of 48th Street East just before 1:30 a.m. today. Twenty-one-year-old Ronnie Sims Jr. came home at that time driving his father's 2002 silver Toyota Tacoma and heard voices from the north side of the home. That's when two men, with shirts tied over their faces and toting shotguns, came around the corner and forced Sims into the house. Inside, the intruders woke Ronnie Sims Sr., 48, and his 53-year-old wife, Phyllis. As one gunman held the residents at gunpoint, the other ransacked a bedroom and took more than $1,000 in cash, deputies said, a pair of handguns and a bracelet that were kept in a safe. They snatched a necklace off the father's neck and took credit cards as well, deputies said. All three victims' ankles and wrists were bound with duct tape and their heads covered with pillow cases, deputies said. The intruders stole the Tacoma to make their getaway. Complete descriptions of the gunmen were unavailable.