A suspect was arrested after a $20 million oceanfront Massachusetts mansion was broken into by two masked men, who allegedly attacked a housekeeper, tied her up and held her at gunpoint while reportedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in valuables.
Emajae Brown, 25, was charged with home invasion, kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, witness intimidation, armed assault in a dwelling, larceny over $1,200, breaking into a building at nighttime with the intent to commit a felony, larceny of a motor vehicle and armed burglary.
Brown was taken into custody in Gloucester and prosecutors argued he was a danger to the community, according to Boston 25 News.
On the morning of March 28, a neighbor on Paine Avenue in Beverly, Massachusetts, called 911 to report a home invasion.
POLICE HUNT ARMED SUSPECT AFTER HOUSEKEEPER BOUND, ATTACKED IN LUXURY MANSION HEIST: REPORT
Investigators learned that two armed suspects had broken into the mansion and assaulted and tied up a housekeeper who was inside the home before leaving with several valuable items. The housekeeper was the only person home at the time of the incident.
During the burglary, the suspects allegedly grabbed the housekeeper’s phone and tossed it in the ocean, according to CBS Boston. They also allegedly made her find bleach and place valuable items in trash bags.
“What they did to my housekeeper was just horrendous,” homeowner Thomas Swan III told WCVB last month after the heist.
“She was held at gunpoint, sometimes dragged by her hair, ultimately tied up and left in the garage. She’s really, really special, but truly traumatized by this, truly traumatized,” he added.
After the suspects left, the housekeeper escaped and went to a neighbor’s home to call for help. She was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and later released.
“She went on to tell investigators the suspect was pointing a firearm at her head and escorting her around the home,” a prosecutor said in court on Tuesday, according to CBS Boston.
One robber fled the scene with several valuables, including money and gold, in a Porsche stolen from the home. That vehicle was later located by police several miles away near a cemetery in Lynn.
Ring cameras were able to locate Brown, who was tracked through phone surveillance to New York City, where he was allegedly meeting with a jewelry dealer, according to Boston 25 News.
Local and federal authorities eventually found more than $300,000 and numerous gold items in his car, the outlet reported.
Police also said Brown was the ex-boyfriend of another housekeeper who worked at the home. The prosecutor said they learned that Brown had an open domestic charge from an incident at the Encore Boston Harbor casino.
Brown was ordered held without bail until the next hearing on April 21.
