UPDATE 3/20/23 — Rush is scheduled to have a criminal setting at 8 a.m. on March 24.
Lentz is scheduled to have a confined docket hearing at 8 a.m. on March 22.
Both Rush and Lentz have been formally charged with:
- One felony count of first-degree burglary
- Three felony counts of third-degree assault
- Two felony counts of first-degree kidnapping
- One felony count of first-degree robbery
- Two felony counts of armed criminal action
- One felony count of stealing a motor vehicle
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Two homeless men were arrested after the Greene County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a home invasion and robbery.
William Roy Rush, 60, and Justin Michael Lentz, 28, both of Springfield, were arrested and booked into the Greene County Jail Sunday morning, Feb. 26. At the time of this writing, they have not yet been formally charged.
According to a Greene County Sheriff’s Office release, deputies received a call at 9:10 p.m. on Feb. 25 from an elderly couple aged 84 and 89 on North Farm Road 171. They reported that they had been the victims of a home invasion and robbery.
They said that around 6:50 p.m., they responded to a doorbell ring. Two men forced their way inside and sprayed them with chemicals and physically assaulted them. The couple was restrained.
Police documents show the suspects kicked in a closet door and found a safe.
One of the victims refused to give the men the access code to enter the safe.
Documents show the victim was then hit with a closed fist and an “old cop-like baton.”
The victims also said the suspects threatened to kill them.
Documents show one of the suspects grabbed a “cap gun” he found in the house that resembled a real gun.
The gun was held up to one of the victim’s heads and the trigger was pulled.
For nearly two hours, the couple was repeatedly assaulted as the men burglarized their home.
The men left around 8:50 p.m. with the couple’s red Ford Mustang packed with the couple’s guns and other possessions.
The victims eventually freed themselves and called for help. They were taken to a hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Ozarksfirst spoke to some people who live near the incident.
“I came home and just a lot of police cars, ambulance, I think a crime scene vehicle,” said Ken Taylor.
Deputies described the area as having a heavy presence of people walking through.
Officials encourage people to invest in outdoor cameras to try to prevent these crimes.
“That way you can kind of see who’s outside your home before you even open the door,” said Deputy Paige Rippee.
At 11:30 p.m., Springfield firefighters and Greene County deputies responded to a vehicle fire on North Prospect Avenue. The vehicle turned out to be the stolen Mustang from the couple’s home. After deputies searched the area and found evidence from the crime scene, they arrested Lentz and Rush.
This article will be updated as more information is released about the incident.
