Holyoke man denies home invasion charge

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
By FRED CONTRADA, fcontrada@repub.com

NORTHAMPTON - A Holyoke man accused of pulling a gun on a 15-year-old girl in her Westhampton Road home pleaded innocent yesterday to home invasion and larceny in Northampton District Court.
Sarun Hong, 23, of 98 St. James Ave., was one of two men who entered a home on Westhampton Road last Wednesday , threatened one of the occupants and robbed a safe of $32,000 in cash and jewelry, according to Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Michael A. Cahillane.
As Cahillane described the events to Judge W. Michael Goggins, two Cambodian men came to the residence shortly before noon. The girl, who is also Cambodian, was home because school had been canceled due to bad weather. She spoke with the men in Cambodian and they told her they were there on real estate business, Cahillane said. One of the men asked to use the bathroom and they subsequently left.
Cahillane told Goggins that the two men returned a short while later in a white four-door vehicle, telling the girl they needed more information. One of the men then pulled out a silver handgun and took the girl to her bedroom. The other man went to her father's room and took the money and jewelry from a safe, according to Cahillane.
Although the girl told police she did not know the men's names, she went on My Space and identified Hong from a photograph, Cahillane said. She also found a photograph of a white 2007 Lexus that matched the car she saw the men driving. After obtaining a warrant to search Hong's home, police found two handguns, one of them silver, in a locked box under his bed. Hong also had a white 2007 Lexus registered in his mother's name.
Cahillane asked Goggins to set bail at $50,000 cash, but defense lawyer Marissa L. Elkins argued for a bail of $1,000, saying that Hong has a minimal criminal record. Elkins said that Hong is the sole bread-winner. Goggins interrupted her when she said that the family is just scraping by financially.
"If he's having trouble making ends meet, how come he has a 2007 Lexus?" the judge asked. Goggins set bail at $25,000 cash and continued the matter to March 14.