Shot Fired During Home Invasion, Assault

A violent episode in a home where a 20-month-child lives could have been much uglier, Lt. Tim Diamond said.

Lawrence Wynn, 22, Maurice Christon, 21, and Anthony Rogers, 18, are charged with home invasion in the Friday incident. The men, all from Detroit, allegedly broke down the door of the home on the 6600 block of Buckland in West Bloomfield to assault the 44-year-old man who lives there and acts as a stepfather to the child, of whom Wynn is the father, Diamond said. The men had gone to pick up the child’s 19-year-old mother, who was in the process of being kicked out by the 44-year-old man, he said.

The stepfather, Diamond explained, was not happy with his relationship, and as he saw the three men in a car on the adjoining street, Pinnock, from inside his home, he carried an aluminum baseball bat outside and swung it to intimidate them. Diamond said the man went back inside through his back door and then  the door was pushed or kicked in and the man was beaten in his kitchen. The West Bloomfield Fire Department later treated the man for his injuries and he refused transport to the hospital.

The three men got back in the car, Diamond said, when the stepfather ran outside and threw his bat against the car. Diamond said one of the men  responded by getting out of the car, opening the trunk and firing a Ruger handgun in the air, which scared the stepfather back inside. The stepfather “feared for his life at this point,” Diamond said.

The stepfather called police, Diamond said, who received a description and pulled over the vehicle on Pontiac Trail near M-5. The three men were taken into custody when a 9mm handgun was recovered, Diamond said. Police later found the casing from a spare round at the location.

"Once you get a gun in the mix, it can get ugly very fast," Diamond said. "We're thankful that this incident ended where it did."

All three men were charged with first-degree home invasion, a 20-year felony. Assault and battery charges are included in that charge, Diamond said. The men were arraigned and given $25,000 cash bonds.

As of Monday afternoon, all three remained in Oakland County Jail. They are to  report to Judge Marc Barron at on Thursday for a pre-exam conference.