News

June 27, 2009

Four now face charges in home invasion

Hazleton police charged 2 more men in Nov. 15 robbery of elderly couple.

By Edward Lewis elewis@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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HAZLETON – Police believe they have the four men responsible for the home invasion and brutal beating of an elderly couple in November.

Kevin Tyler Fisher, 27, of Hazleton, and Joseph Harry Bardi, 38, of Weston, were arrested Thursday night by police.

Police suspect Fisher and Anthony Robert Cangiano, 34, planned the robbery of Nicholas Caputo, and his wife, Martha, on Nov. 15.

Fisher recruited Bardi and Daniel Pinkney, 22, to rob the Caputos of money, police allege.

Their plan went foul from the start when Pinkney rushed into the house and saw Martha Caputo lying on a couch watching television. He allegedly placed a duffle bag over her head and struck her several times with a handgun, according to arrest records.

Police claim Fisher struck Nicholas Caputo with brass knuckles after Caputo tried to help his wife.

Cangiano and Bardi waited inside a vehicle parked outside the home, police said.

Cangiano, of Hazleton, and Pinkney, of West Hazleton, have been charged for their alleged roles in the robbery. Cangiano was captured by the U.S. Marshals Service on June 6 in the eastern European country of Montenegro. Pinkney was arrested on April 6.

Fisher and Bardi were arraigned by District Judge Joseph Zola in Hazleton.

Fisher was charged with four counts of criminal conspiracy, three counts of robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count each of simple assault, unlawful restraint, burglary and criminal attempt. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $250,000 bail.

Bardi was charged with four counts of criminal conspiracy. He was jailed for lack of $150,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaints:

Cangiano told police that he and Bardi planned the robbery for several days, and Bardi recruited Fisher and Pinkney to act out the plan.

Cangiano parked down the street from the Caputo home on South Pine Street.

Pinkney and Fisher carried two duffle bags for carrying money out of the home.

Cangiano claimed Pinkney and Fisher fled the house without money. Pinkney jumped into the vehicle telling Cangiano that “it went bad in the house” and it was “really bloody,” according to the criminal complaints.

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