By By Cleve R. Wootson Jr., McClatchy Newspapers
CHARLOTTE — Three armed men broke into the south Charlotte home of the Bobcats’ Stephen Jackson and held his wife at gunpoint before locking her in a bathroom and stealing valuables, police say.
The home invasion robbery happened just after 7 a.m. Wednesday at the home in a gated community off Carmel Road.
The robbery report doesn’t list the victims’ names or say what the robbers got away with, but a police source told the Charlotte Observer that the victim was Jackson’s wife and that he wasn’t home at the time of the crime.
Public records list Jackson and his wife, Renata, as occupants of the home. They’ve lived there since December 2009.
Officers have not said why they believe their home was targeted. No one has been charged.
The Charlotte Bobcats declined to comment.
The $1.7 million tan stucco home with three garages is owned by former Bobcats guard Jason Richardson, who was traded to the Phoenix Suns during the 2008-09 season.
About a year later, the Bobcats acquired Jackson, a talented shooting guard who helped lead the team to its first playoff appearance last season.
Professional athletes like Jackson have long maintained that they and their loved ones are sometimes targeted by criminals. A 2007 Boston Globe investigation estimated more than 90 percent of NBA and NFL players carried guns for protection.
The 2007 slaying of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor, during what police called a random burglary at his home in south Florida, heightened feelings of vulnerability.
In Charlotte in 2005, Charlotte Bobcats forward/center Melvin Ely and two other people were robbed and shot at outside a South Boulevard strip club. Ely ultimately recovered his $30,000 piece of jewelry from a pawn shop.
Last year, Carolinas Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis reported to police that his 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic was taken from the front of his home in the Providence Plantation community of southeast Charlotte.
Davis told police the purple Chevy, with distinctive wheels and other upgrades, is worth $136,000. It included a steering wheel that incorporated a football and a photo of Davis.
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Staff researcher Maria David contributed.
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