By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

GOLD HILL — Three people, two of them brothers, have been charged with assaulting a 69-year-old Gold Hill man and breaking into his vacant home about a week ago.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office charged Lathan Cody Sisk, 25, of the 600 block of St. Peter’s Church Road, Gold Hill, with one count of felony breaking and entering and one count of misdemeanor simple assault.

In addition, brothers Keith Allen Rattz Jr., 26, and Jason Alexander Rattz, 21, were charged.

Keith Rattz faces one count of felony robbery with a dangerous weapon; two counts of simple assault; two counts of felony breaking and entering; and felony larceny.

Jason Rattz faces one count of felony breaking and entering and, in an unrelated matter, a charge of misdemeanor simple assault.

The break-in occurred Jan. 9. The owner of the house, veteran John Trexler, had gone there to get a cane for his wife. The vacant home is listed for sale.

Trexler noticed a back window open and went inside. He saw a man run from the hallway into a bedroom.

Trexler also saw a man climbing into the house from a hole in the ceiling. He grabbed the suspect and they tussled.

After he was hit in the back of the head with what was later determined to be the blunt end of a hatchet, Trexler said he hit one of the men with a hammer.

The three ran out of the home into a nearby field and over a fence.

Rowan County deputies used a K-9 to track the suspects. One dog, Echo, found a knife and glove in the area.

Jason Rattz remains in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $12,000 secured bond. Keith Rattz remains jailed under a $40,000 secured bond. Lathan Sisk is in jail under a $30,000 secured bond.