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Teen called 911 during armed home invasion
Bond denied for 4 suspects
0309bond
Antonia Santos talks about the Tuesday night home invasion of the Cooley Drive house she shares with her family. - photo by Tom Reed

A 15-year-old dialed the authorities Tuesday night while four masked, armed men ransacked her home.

Antonia Santos, a student at Johnson High School, made the call during a home invasion at about 10:40 p.m. in the 900 block of Cooley Drive in Gainesville. She said the men were holding guns to her and her grandmother's heads, asking, "Where is the money?"

"There were a lot of things (going through) my head," she said. "(I was worried) about all my little sisters, my brothers, my grandma."

She sneaked into her room and made the call, but one of the men caught her and questioned her about her phone.

She told the men she did not call anyone and they again threatened her at gunpoint.

Santos said the men were in the house for about eight minutes. Nine children were at home at the time, according to authorities.

Dustin Jones, 17, and Torriocquie Glenn, 18, both of Gainesville, and Joseph Berry, 18, and Marquis Berry, 21, both of Oakwood, are charged in the incident. Chief Magistrate Judge Margaret Gregory on Thursday denied bond for each of them.

"We were fortunate that we had deputies in the area when it happened," Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks, spokesman for the Hall County Sheriff's Office, said Wednesday. "It worked out really well, first, in that nobody was injured, and second, that we were able to make the arrests.

The house was ransacked, but the men left with no money or electronics despite their demands.

While approaching the scene Tuesday, a deputy saw a white Buick traveling with no headlights on Black Drive and attempted to make a traffic stop. Those in the vehicle ran, and a K-9 team tracked them to a house on Jordan Drive.

Two weapons were recovered from the vehicle and two more were later found in an abandoned house on Jordan Drive.

All four were booked into the Hall County Jail, charged with one count of armed robbery and 10 counts of aggravated assault each.

Wilbanks said the incident didn't appear to be drug-related.

"If it hadn't been for that deputy coming down Black Drive, we might not have been able to have any good leads or make any arrests," he said.

The incident remains under investigation by the Criminal Investigations Division of the Sheriff's Office.

A committal hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 26 for Joseph Berry and Glenn. Marquis Berry and Jones waived their committal hearing and their cases will be bound over to Superior Court.