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Erie Township man targeted in home invasion for money and marijuana

Posted at 6:27 PM, Oct 26, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-26 18:27:14-04

A 2-state manhunt is underway for four guys who targeted a medical marijuana user and grower they thought would be a juicy hit.  

“Sucker punched me in my ear and ground his pistol in the back of my head and said don’t f-ing look at me,” said Justin Wagner.  

Four men wearing masks, gloves, camouflage clothing and armed with handguns and a shotgun broke in through Wagner’s front door late Wednesday night in Erie Township near the Ohio border. 

Police Chief Dean Ansel says, “Right away demanded money and the weed.”  

They seemed to know Justin was a marijuana user and grower.  

He had a near-death crash on a motorcycle a year and a half ago and is wheelchair bound.  

He took us out to the garage where they were certain they’d find a big stash.  

“Kept cursing at me, swearing, I know there’s more. You better tell me where it is at. Don’t turn a robbery into a homicide,“ Wagner said.  

But he’s not growing and didn’t have a lot of cash, saying, “They were here under the misconception they were going to hit the motherlode and walk out of here with 20, 30 thousand dollars. What they stole was my personal marijuana and my rent money.”  

His girlfriend was tied up on the floor with an electrical cord during the robbery.  

The robbers also noticed surveillance cameras on the house and took the recorder with them.  

But Police Chief Ansel says not so fast, “We believe there are two surveillance systems in this house.”

The Chief is also concerned about more targeted hits with Proposition 1, legal marijuana for recreational use.  

“We’re going to be the only state in the mid states that legalizes it,” the Chief said.

But Wagner disagrees, with compassion saying, “I feel sorry for them. I don’t fear them. I don’t hate them.” 

Even though they held a gun to his head.  

“They’re sorry individuals. They have a poor life. I take that into consideration.”

Wagner is from Toledo, and he thinks that’s where these guys heard about him. The search for them continues.