Matt's dog, a rescued pit bull named Crisis, whose teeth had been shaved down by a previous owner who'd used him as bait for dogfights, leapt over his owner and went right for one of the intruder's guns, Matt said. In return, the intruder shot Crisis once in the head. After that, the invaders spent about 10 seconds running through the house, but ran out the front door with nothing because the gunshot had already drawn curious neighbors from their homes, Matt said.
Crisis was "barely alive" after being shot and had to be euthanized. As he sat on his front steps yesterday, Matt couldn't get over the sacrifice the dog that he'd rescued just one year ago had made for him.
"If he didn't leap for the gun, who knows what would have happened," Matt said. "He was the best dog ever."
Later Sunday, at 3:24 a.m., three Hispanic men broke into a house on Friendship Street near Frontenac, in Castor, and used plastic tape to tie up two victims, a 21-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman, police said. While pistol-whipping the male victim, one of the intruders' guns discharged and the bullet struck the ceiling, according to police. The invaders made off with $10,000 and two cellphones.
The violent home invasions started about 4 a.m. Saturday, when a 33-year-old man was ordered into his house at gunpoint by five unknown black men on Longshore Avenue near Hegerman Street, in Tacony, police said. The gunmen were all wearing dark clothes, masks and hoodies and were armed with semi-automatic handguns, police said.
The victim was hit twice in the head with the butt of one of the intruder's guns and was threatened with death, police said. The men made off with $600, credit cards, jewelry and loose change, according to police. The victim told police that he had no idea why he was targeted.
Just a half an hour later and six miles away, police said, two business owners were targeted at their Feltonville home on Wingohocking Street near American.
The couple, a 35-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man, told police that they had just returned home from closing up their bar, Tony's Place, at 8th Street and Lehigh Avenue, and found five black men wearing masks and gloves who were armed with semiautomatic handguns inside their house. Both victims were bound with zip ties and then the male victim was taken to the basement where he was beaten with a club and had hot water thrown on his back, police said. The intruders took $1,100 in cash and the victims' cellphones. The victims were treated at a hospital and released.
Neighbors of the victims said that the block is usually very quiet. The back area of the victims' house is fenced in, but neighbors believe that the intruders may have jumped the back fence because a rear window to the house was smashed. n
Contact Stephanie Farr at 215-854-4225 or farrs@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @FarFarrAway. Read her blog, "Daily Delco," at philly.com/dailydelco.
