Don't worry, it's the FBI... Or is it?
Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2001 10:36 pm
Gunmen break in, attack 2 residents in their Chesapeake home
By STEVE STONE
© 2000, The Virginian-Pilot
CHESAPEAKE, VA 10/24/2000 -- Kenneth Liskey was in bed when, early Thursday, he heard a noise at the front door of his home. He thought it might be one of his sons. Seconds later, he said, he was confronted by three armed, masked men shouting "FBI! FBI!"
These were not federal agents on a mission, however. They were more like urban terrorists.
For nearly an hour, Liskey said, they beat him and a fellow resident of the home in the 1100 block of Fontana Ave. in the Indian River section.
They told Liskey, a 46-year-old concrete worker, it would cost him $50,000 to live, though the price came down with time.
"They just kept asking me, `Where's the money?' " Liskey said. "First he said, `Give me $50,000 or I'm going to kill you.' Then it was $20,000 and $10,000."
When Liskey repeatedly insisted that he had little more than the money in his wallet, a few rolls of the new golden dollar and a bottle full of pennies, he said, his captors became furious.
They began torturing him, he said, burning his body with a fork repeatedly heated on a stove burner.
"They burned my rear end, my back and arms and they did some other stuff I don't want to describe," Liskey said as he tried to put his wrecked home back together and tended his wounds. Not only are there multiple burns and the bruises where he was hit and beaten, but also the 48 stitches on his head from where he was struck numerous times with the butt of a handgun. "I'm in pretty bad shape."
And what's worse, he still doesn't know why he was targeted.
The three men broke through the front door about 1:45 a.m., police spokeswoman Cheryl Sitler said. One of the invaders was dressed in a camouflage jacket.
Liskey said he jumped out of bed and ran into the men in a hallway. They pushed him back into his bedroom, where they tied his hands behind his back and lashed his feet.
One of the men asked by name for one of Liskey's sons. He told them his son had not lived there for six years.
That's when the demands for money began. One of the men stayed with Liskey, while the others ransacked the house.
Liskey managed to work one of his hands free and leaped at his assailant. They struggled for control of the gun and one shot was fired. "I heard it click again, but it was a misfire," Liskey said.
"Then someone came up behind me and wailed me real good on my head," Liskey said. He remained conscious, but the fight was out of him.
About the same time, Liskey said, the men found the other man who lives in the house. He had heard the commotion and realized what was happening. But because there wasn't a telephone in his room to call police, Liskey said, the man hid in a closet. The gunmen found him and beat him, too. He required 20 stitches.
After a while, the gunmen began to worry about how long they had been there. "One of them was saying, `We've been here too long; we should be gone,' " Liskey said.
Before fleeing, however, the men threw Liskey and the other resident into a bathtub after again beating them in the head with their guns.
The three took off with about $350 in cash and credit cards and two rifles they took from Liskey's gun rack, he said.
After a short time, Liskey ran to a neighbor's home to call for help.
"It looks like a hurricane went through here," Liskey said Thursday night.
He hopes his assailants will be caught, but he's not optimistic.
"I've had the house broken into a couple times," he said, "but this is the first time I've ever been whipped."
By STEVE STONE
© 2000, The Virginian-Pilot
CHESAPEAKE, VA 10/24/2000 -- Kenneth Liskey was in bed when, early Thursday, he heard a noise at the front door of his home. He thought it might be one of his sons. Seconds later, he said, he was confronted by three armed, masked men shouting "FBI! FBI!"
These were not federal agents on a mission, however. They were more like urban terrorists.
For nearly an hour, Liskey said, they beat him and a fellow resident of the home in the 1100 block of Fontana Ave. in the Indian River section.
They told Liskey, a 46-year-old concrete worker, it would cost him $50,000 to live, though the price came down with time.
"They just kept asking me, `Where's the money?' " Liskey said. "First he said, `Give me $50,000 or I'm going to kill you.' Then it was $20,000 and $10,000."
When Liskey repeatedly insisted that he had little more than the money in his wallet, a few rolls of the new golden dollar and a bottle full of pennies, he said, his captors became furious.
They began torturing him, he said, burning his body with a fork repeatedly heated on a stove burner.
"They burned my rear end, my back and arms and they did some other stuff I don't want to describe," Liskey said as he tried to put his wrecked home back together and tended his wounds. Not only are there multiple burns and the bruises where he was hit and beaten, but also the 48 stitches on his head from where he was struck numerous times with the butt of a handgun. "I'm in pretty bad shape."
And what's worse, he still doesn't know why he was targeted.
The three men broke through the front door about 1:45 a.m., police spokeswoman Cheryl Sitler said. One of the invaders was dressed in a camouflage jacket.
Liskey said he jumped out of bed and ran into the men in a hallway. They pushed him back into his bedroom, where they tied his hands behind his back and lashed his feet.
One of the men asked by name for one of Liskey's sons. He told them his son had not lived there for six years.
That's when the demands for money began. One of the men stayed with Liskey, while the others ransacked the house.
Liskey managed to work one of his hands free and leaped at his assailant. They struggled for control of the gun and one shot was fired. "I heard it click again, but it was a misfire," Liskey said.
"Then someone came up behind me and wailed me real good on my head," Liskey said. He remained conscious, but the fight was out of him.
About the same time, Liskey said, the men found the other man who lives in the house. He had heard the commotion and realized what was happening. But because there wasn't a telephone in his room to call police, Liskey said, the man hid in a closet. The gunmen found him and beat him, too. He required 20 stitches.
After a while, the gunmen began to worry about how long they had been there. "One of them was saying, `We've been here too long; we should be gone,' " Liskey said.
Before fleeing, however, the men threw Liskey and the other resident into a bathtub after again beating them in the head with their guns.
The three took off with about $350 in cash and credit cards and two rifles they took from Liskey's gun rack, he said.
After a short time, Liskey ran to a neighbor's home to call for help.
"It looks like a hurricane went through here," Liskey said Thursday night.
He hopes his assailants will be caught, but he's not optimistic.
"I've had the house broken into a couple times," he said, "but this is the first time I've ever been whipped."