Two arrested after robbing wrong apartment in Sierra Vista | Crime

Two alleged armed robbery suspects are in Cochise County Jail after robbing an apartment last Saturday in Sierra Vista.

Sierra Vista Police responded to the Sierra Pines Apartments at 8 p.m. on Saturday after receiving reports of an armed robbery that taken place.  SVPD interviewed the three victims who told police that two masked men entered their apartment and told them to lie down on the ground.  Two of the victims reported that one of the suspects had hit them on the head with a pistol.  A third victim said one of the suspects put a gun to her forehead.  Both suspects asked the victims to hand over money and drugs, according to the witness reports, it was at this point the alleged robbers realized they were in the wrong apartment.  According to SVPD reports the suspects apologized for hitting the victims with a weapon and then allegedly stole a flat screen TV and left.

While investigating the call at Sierra Pines Apartments another call was taken about an attempted robbery at Sierra Charles Apartments, with suspects matching the descriptions of the Sierra Pines robbers.  SVPD located the suspects at another apartment complex, where according to police reports a TV matching the one stolen from Sierra Pines was found in a suspect’s vehicle. 

According to SVPD, victims from both apartment robberies were able to positively identify Marcell Lamont Ratliff, Jr. and Joseph Anthony Meriwether, as the alleged robbers.

Ratliff, and Meriwether were charged with three counts of aggravated assault, kidnapping, and armed robbery, as well as one count each of burglary and attempted burglary.  Both are currently booked into the Cochise County Jail.