Charges: Man zip-tied teen, stole about $10,000 during Minneapolis home invasion

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A 33-year-old Minneapolis man is charged in connection to a home invasion in which he allegedly threatened to kill a 14-year-old boy and left him zip-tied in the home, according to a criminal complaint.

Robert Buckingham is charged with first-degree burglary with a dangerous weapon and first-degree aggravated robbery.

This case comes amid a series of 23 home invasion burglaries in which a suspect has entered the home, threatened children with weapons and demanded money, according to an application for search warrant filed in Hennepin County District Court. The document states Hispanic families with children have been targeted.

According to the charges against Buckingham, Minneapolis police responded to a burglary report on Sunday just before 7 p.m. in the 2700 block of 12th Avenue South.

The 14-year-old boy told police he was in the shower, when a man came into the bathroom and forced him to get out of the shower, the charges say. The man, later identified as Buckingham, allegedly threatened the teen with a knife and zip-tied his hands together. Buckingham told the teen to stay in the bathroom or he would kill him. Buckingham then went around the home, stealing an estimated $10,000 in cash.

When the teen's parents returned home, they found him bound in the bathroom, but their two other children were unharmed. A relative, who lives in the lower unit of the home, also discovered a window screen had been cut open on the south side of her unit and a wooden box was placed underneath the window.

Surveillance video showed Buckingham standing outside the house before the reported burglary and then later walking out of the home and driving away.

When police executed a search warrant at Buckingham's home, they found similar clothing to what he was wearing in the surveillance footage and $10,860 in cash.

Buckingham is in custody at the Hennepin County Jail.