Asheville News

Asheville police: Men in ski masks tie up and rob couple on Town Mountain

Jason Sandford January 12, 2009

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

It’s rare that you see this kind of crime up on Town Mountain, which is populated with million-dollar homes with million-dollar views. Note that this happened on Sunday morning.

From the Asheville Police Department’s web site:

Detectives investigate first-degree burglary

ASHEVILLE – Asheville police detectives are investigating a reported first-degree burglary of a couple’s residence on Sunset Summit that occurred this morning (Jan. 11). Police received a call at 9:43 a.m. that two white males wearing all black clothing and ski masks had entered the residence shortly after the husband left the residence to get breakfast. The two suspects had been dropped off at the scene by a white female driving an older model dark green 4-door Buick with a sunroof. The two suspects entered the house, displayed a handgun, and made the wife lie down as they searched the residence.

The husband returned and both he and his wife were taken to a bedroom and tied up. The suspects took firearms, jewelry, cash, and bank cards. The two suspects left the scene in the couple’s gray Subaru Legacy. The man and woman were not injured.

At the time of this posting, detectives are conducting several interviews in the case. Any updates will be transmitted via media release and/or updated on this page.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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9 Comments

Matt Howard January 13, 2009

Im frankly suprised this hasent happeded sooner. And I expect it to happen again. These people were idiots, but next time someone smart might pull it off. Or even more chilling, someone more unbalanced.

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Weather Watcher January 12, 2009

Strange that the suspect (Hassell), with the additional charges of cocaine possession and a felony warrant for driving with a revoked license, had the lowest bond.

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b.c.w. January 12, 2009

Your standards aren’t low, Ash… with the way the real estate market has tanked (or LEVELED, depending on your perspective) a $4-500,000 home is pretty upper crust now. Home prices are finally coming back to reality. Remember, for the landed gentry of Asheville, anything around a million or below was seen as a ‘fixer-upper’ before the poo hit the fan. For $500,000 I’d buy the house and sell half of it to someone else…. less to clean and worry about. hah!

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Ash January 12, 2009

Lesley, i’d love a tour! 🙂 i need more blog fodder!

Seriously, Lesley and Jenny, you are correct, and I should have been more specific. Town Mountain is more of a mixed bag than I stated in my post — i overstated.

But the homes on Sunset Summit, where the robbery occurred, have tax values of anywhere from $320,000 to $783,000, with lots of homes in the $400,000s and $500,000s.

That’s a wealthy neighborhood, by my standards. But as a lowly reporter, my standards are pretty low.

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Jenny Graves January 12, 2009

Town Mtn is not all rich and huge homes. Some yes, but others are definitely not that high end. It’s an old neighborhood and a mixed bag to be honest.

This sort of crime can happen anywhere. The fact that it happened on Town Mtn does not make it any more dramatic.

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Lesley January 12, 2009

Maybe I just have a knack for finding pockets of struggling people in otherwise wealthy neighborhoods, but I can take you on tour! The rondells are especially charming (rondell = low rent deltec home). 🙂

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Ash January 12, 2009

Lesley, I looked up the property tax listings for Sunset Summit, and you’re right. Instead of million-dollar homes, they’re mostly half million dollar homes.

But they’re all rich. I’m not sure which houses you were visiting…

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judgeyall January 12, 2009

Talked to my buddy who lives up there and luckily the armed suspects were caught hours later. The woman driving the car had stolen her mom’s car, the two masked guys were apparently stoned, smoked the whole time. and stayed two hours! what a nightmare!

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Lesley January 12, 2009

Ash,
Ahem…the only homes I’ve personally visited on Town Mountain have been older bungalows, diy renovations, and a couple of rondells. I know there are rich people up there too, but…

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