5 Charged In Home Invasion, Parents Zip-Tied In Front Of Kids: DOJ

WALLKILL, NY — A Hudson Valley family's harrowing ordeal has led to federal charges for the five accused of terrorizing them.

Edward Y. Kim, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James E. Dennehy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, announced on Thursday the unsealing of a complaint charging Bhupinderjit Singh, Elijah Roman, Corey Hall, Erik Suarez and Divya Kumari with perpetrating a gunpoint home invasion robbery of the home of a small business owner in Orange County.

The five defendants were arrested Thursday, and will be presented in White Plains federal court.

"Bhupinderjit Singh and his co-defendants allegedly planned and executed a violent robbery, during which four children watched as their parents were zip tied and held at gunpoint while four men ransacked their home looking for money and valuables," Kim said. "Thanks to the hard work of our law enforcement partners and the career prosecutors of this Office, the defendants will now face charges stemming from this brazen robbery."

On Dec. 1, the five perpetrated a gunpoint home invasion robbery in Wallkill, according to federal prosecutors.

When they arrived at the house, the accused robbers forced the homeowner and daughter, who is approximately 10 years old, into the house at gunpoint, feds say. When the alleged assailants entered the home, the homeowner's wife was sitting with the couple's other three children, who ranged in age from approximately two to nine years old.

Singh, Roman, Hall, Suarez and Kumari then zip-tied the hands and legs of both adults and placed the couple on the couch next to their children, investigators say. Three of the four robbers then began to search throughout the house, while the fourth robber remained with the family, armed with what appeared to be a small black pistol, according to police.

At one point, the family's young daughter begged the robbers to not hurt her parents and indicated that she would tell them where the family stored their valuables, according to court filings.

Some of the alleged robbers then took the daughter to the house's master bedroom where there was a safe, but she was unable to get the safe open, according to federal prosecutors.

The robbers then took the daughter back to her parents and forced the wife to come with them instead, according to the court filing. Once in the bedroom, the wife opened the safe and watched as the robbers removed from it, among other items, numerous pieces of jewelry and approximately $10,000 in U.S. currency, law enforcement says.

Singh, 26, of South Ozone Park; Roman, 22, of Far Rockaway; Hall, 45, of Saint Albans; Suarez 24, of Elmhurst; and Kumari, 26, of Massapequa are all charged with one count of Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of Hobbs Act robbery, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Singh, Roman, Hall, Suarez and Kumari are also charged with one count of using, carrying, possessing, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Kim praised the FBI's Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, as well the Town of Wallkill Police Department and the New York State Police.

"These five defendants participated in a robbery in which a firearm was brandished to gain unauthorized entry into a family’s home and steal valuable jewelry and thousands of dollars. This alleged forceful intrusion violated the privacy and security expected inside one's home, and terrorized four young children left to helplessly beg for the safety of their restrained parents," FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy. "The FBI will continue to apprehend any individual who utilizes weapons to intimidate victims to fulfill their criminal agenda."