Five people have been arrested in connection to a home invasion and were charged with sexual assault, with officials saying that the crime was targeted.
Zaid Mayen-Esteban and Jonathan David Garcia-Larios were arrested on February 13 following their alleged involvement in a home invasion incident in the Cherry Oaks neighborhood in Greenville, North Carolina, that took place on February 11.
Mayen-Esteban, 21, and Garcia-Larios, 20, have both been charged with first-degree sexual offense, first-degree kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and first-degree burglary in connection with the incident.
John Carlos Calderon was arrested on February 16, while Pedro Miguel Vivanco and
Kevin Eduardo Morales Lara were arrested on Monday, February 23, with the same charges as Mayen-Esteban and Garcia-Larios.
All five suspects are being held in custody without bond. It is not currently clear if any of the suspects have entered pleas or retained legal counsel following their arrests.
“It is a complex and evolving investigation,” Sergeant Lee Darnell said following the first two arrests, according to Reflector. “We are still actively investigating it and are limited on what can be said … but I can say that it was a targeted crime and was not random.”
The sheriff’s office also described the case as being “violent” in a news release.
An arrest warrant stated that the intruders forcibly entered the home with the intent to assault the victim, per the outlet. The men reportedly injured the victim with an edged weapon, as well as restrained the victim against his will in order to assault him.
The warrant also claimed that the suspects unlawfully confined, restrained and forced the victim from one place to another in an attempt to cause serious bodily injury. Additionally, the intruders have been accused of terrorizing the victim and facilitating the commission of a forcible sex offense.
The Pitt County Sheriff’s Office said that one victim was transported to ECU Health for treatment of their injuries, according to WCTI 12. However, the extent of those injuries has not yet been released as of time of publication.
The sheriff’s office has not provided any information about the victim, including their age, gender and where they home. The home where the intrusion took place was a residence that often hosts short-term rental guests through AirBnB.
It is not clear if anyone else was at the home at the time of the invasion.
Darnell said Wednesday the incident appeared to be isolated and added that detectives are pursuing “all avenues” in their investigation
Following the initial arrests, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on February 19 that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an arrest detainer for Mayen-Esteban and Garcia-Larios.
The news release said that both Mayen-Esteban and Garcia-Larios entered the United States illegally at unknown dates and times. Garcia-Larios was previously removed from the U.S. in 2024, though returned to the country illegally at an unknown date.
“This is a real-life nightmare. Burglarizing, kidnapping, assaulting, sodomizing, and ripping off the fingernails of an innocent victim are extremely wicked and heinous,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
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