3 Indicted Over Highwood Home Invasion, Drug Robbery

HIGHWOOD, IL — A Lake County grand jury indicted three men on at least nine felony charges each after they allegedly broke into a Highwood home and robbed a resident at gunpoint. Police said the men were found fleeing the scene with a gun and bag of more than half a pound of marijuana. According to a statement from one of the accused trio, they had been targeting a "local teenage drug dealer."

George Amaxopoulos, 25, of the 2400 block of West Winona Street, Chicago, Garner D. Hara, 27, of the 200 block of Red Oak Lane, Highland Park and Paul M. Youhanna, 29, of the 6500 block of North Washtenaw Avenue, Chicago, were each charged with home invasion, armed robbery, residential burglary, aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, possession of between 100-500 grams of cannabis and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to court records.

On a Monday afternoon last month, Highland Park and Highwood police were dispatched to Prairie Avenue just west of Green Bay Road for a call of an armed man trying to break into a home and fleeing in a black car, according to police reports.

Within a few minutes and less than two blocks away from the location of the reported robbery, police reported finding a black Audi A6 with tinted windows and took the three men inside into custody.

Inside the car, police noticed a 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun wedged between the passenger seat and center console, a large black safe in the back passenger seat and a large, vacuum seal-style bag with 238 grams of a green leafy substance inside and blood on the outside, according to the reports.

The victims describe a frightening scene. The Highwood resident and a friend from Northbrook, both 22, said they noticed the men sneaking around the outside of the house.

"I saw one guy halfway through my bathroom window, I opened the door and yelled, 'I'm calling the cops,' then slammed the door shut," one of the men told police.

When he and his friend tried holding the door shut, one of the intruders smashed out a window with a handgun and pointed it at them, threatening to kill them if they don't cooperate, the victims said.

They ran and tried to hide, but one of the robbers followed them downstairs.

The victims told police the gunman "pointed the gun at us and asked where the money was," threatening several times "that he was going to [shoot] him in the head."

According to a statement from one of the accused robbers, Amaxopoulous handed his gun to Youhanna, who the statement describes as "a known gang affiliated gun for hire," before entering the house.

"He was asking me questions. He said he was gonna shoot me," said the victim, who the gunman allegedly grabbed by the hair and pistol-whipped before grabbing a safe and running outside when he realized the men were calling 911.

As of Nov. 9, Youhanna was being held at Lake County Jail in lieu of $750,000, Hara's bond was set at $500,000 and Amaxopoulos, who has not responded to a message seeking comment, has been released on a $300,000 bond.

All three men will have an opportunity to enter a plea when they are arraigned Nov. 15.

_{Top photo: (From left) Booking photographs of Paul Youhanna, George Amaxopolous, Garner Hara | Highwood PD}