Police say two men smashed into an elderly Bethesda couple’s home, ordered the victims to sit on a couch and stole about $10,000 in cash and rare silver coins.
Police said one of the men knew exactly where the valuables were stashed because he had recently helped install a new heating system in the home.
Robert Christopher Hartley, 30, of Bel Air and Ioanis Gourgoulianos, 28, of Fallston were charged with the Feb. 16 home invasion robbery at the house in the 8800 block of Clewerwall Drive, across the street from Congressional Country Club.
Police said that at about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 16, the 85-year-old residents of the home were in the basement when they heard a loud crash.
They went upstairs and saw two men wearing dark clothing and ski masks coming into the house through a broken glass back door. The suspects ordered the couple to sit on the couch in the living room and put their hands up. Police said one man had a baseball bat and the other had a “small, blunt object.”
“We are not going to hurt you,” police said the suspects told the victims. “We respect you. It’s just that the economy sucks.”
Police said the two stole the cash and rare silver coins in less than 10 minutes and left. The victims then called 911.
Detectives quickly figured out the suspects knew exactly where to look for the valuables. They found about the new heating system and determined Hartley was part of the crew that installed it.
Detectives said Hartley had seen the cash and coins in the home during one of the times he was in the house.
Police also said Gourgoulianos made a fake sales call at the home about three hours before the home invasion. Police said he showed up at the front door at about 2:30 p.m. and told the female victim that he worked for a landscaping company and wanted to talk about snow removal services.
The female victim said she wasn’t interested and didn’t open the door. She said she saw another male standing by the street. Detectives asked around and found that no other neighbor on the street had gotten a similar knock on the door.
Detectives arrested Hartley on Feb. 19 and found silver coins and travelers checks stolen from the victims’ house, police said.
Police said that Hartley provided a full confession during questioning and detectives arrested Gourgoulianos the next day.
Both suspects have also been charged with first degree assault and theft.
Photos via MCP
