By PETE BANDA 
REPORTER
REPORTER@SBNEWSPAPER.COM
A botched home invasion on Thursday night resulted in one San Benito man in jail and another armed man expected to still be on the loose. Sherriff Omar Lucio confirmed at a press conference that Manuel Martinez Duenas, 25, of San Benito, is in custody after a 9-1-1 call alerted sheriff’s deputies of the attempted robbery.
According to Lucio, a call was made from a concerned citizen about two men walking outside dressed in black and carrying weapons. When the deputies responded to the house along Highway 732, they saw the two men with guns and a young lady yelling for help. “When they saw the deputies, one of the suspects raised there rifle and pointed it at the officers,” said Lucio. “The deputy took out his weapon and both suspects took off into the nearby bushes.”
After a short chase, Duenas was apprehended and a 9-mm Colt pistol was recovered. A Border Patrol K-9 unit was called in to help with the search for the other suspect, who was believed to be carrying the rifle, but he was not found. The victim told officers she had never seen the two men before, but that they were not able to take anything. “We were able to respond in about seven minutes… it was just in the nick of time, we stopped them before they were able to hurt anybody.” added Lucio.
“I would also like to say thank you to the person that made the call to us, anytime anyone sees something happen like this, just give us a call and we’ll go investigate it and check it out,” said Lucio. “I don’t know what could have happened there if we did not receive that call.”
Duenas was given a $150,000 bond, $50,000 each for the charges of aggravated assault on a peace officer, aggravated robbery, and organized crime. “He’s going to be in jail for a good amount of time,” Lucio said. “Hopefully after a while, he decides to talk to us and tell us who the other person was, but as of this time he’s not cooperating with us.” If found guilty, Duenas would be facing 9-99 years in prison for each charge and up to $10,000 fine. Duenas does not have a previous record.
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