NATCHEZ — Two arrests have been made in connection with a Feb. 12 home invasion in which an elderly couple was assaulted at their house on Second Street.

Deon D. Woods, 19, along with LaKendrick D. Allen, 22, were arrested at approximately 1:30 a.m. Thursday and each charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of armed robbery, Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield said.

“I am very, very pleased with my investigators, deputies and Metro Narcotics agents, who all played a part in this intense investigation,” Mayfield said. “This is a message, that we are not going to tolerate any crime.

“We will pursue any and all crime doggedly, that is a promise,” he said.

Woods, 29A Brenham Ave., was one of the original persons of interest, while Allen, 3563 Seal Road, Roxie, became a person of interest at a later date when investigators were able to connect him to the crime.

“(This) is something we take extremely seriously — crimes against vulnerable adults, elderly and kids,” Mayfield said. “Hopefully the courts will take it seriously too.”

The sheriff’s office seized a .9 mm handgun from Woods, and the elderly woman identified it as the gun used to commit the crime, Mayfield said. He said the gun would be sent to the state crime lab for DNA testing.

Allen was brought in for questioning with the aide of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. After questioning, deputies arrested Allen and proceeded to track down Woods at a neighbor’s house on Brenham Avenue.

“This was a tough case to crack, but textbook investigation work paid off,” Mayfield said. “The information used to catch them came from our inner circle of investigators, deputies and agents.

“We finally put together enough information to break the case wide open,” he said.

The elderly couple was at home that Friday night when two men knocked on their door. When the man answered, he was allegedly pistol-whipped by Woods, who also reportedly pistol-whipped the woman when she tried to call 911.

Bonds have been set at $1,250,000 each.