Police: Man Assisted in Spider-Man Home Invasion Burglary

A Huntsville man faces felony charges of being an accomplice to aggravated robbery and residential burglary after police said he helped set up a home invasion robbery in January.

Thomas Cline, 29, was booked in the Washington County Detention Center on Saturday and has a bond of $10,000, according to the Sheriff’s Department website. Cline has a March 25 court date.

A preliminary police report said Cline told officers that Eugene Wimberly and Julius Watson told him to go to a residence on Lewis Avenue in Fayetteville to see how many people were at the residence. The report said a resident at the home told police that on Jan. 5 Cline came by and asked for his roommate, who had previously sold marijuana to Cline.

The resident told Cline the roommate was not home, and Cline asked if anyone else was home, the report said. Cline then left and, about two or three minutes later, two men came into the house armed with a handgun, the report said.

The men, one of whom reportedly wore a Spider-Man mask, proceeded to rob the man and the residence.

Wimberly and Watson were arrested Jan. 7 and face charges of aggravated residential burglary, terroristic threatening, aggravated robbery and engaging in violent group activity. The pair also face charges of marijuana delivery, possession of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The victim told police after the two armed robbers left, he heard a loud engine outside, the report said. His roommate, who said he had sold marijuana to Cline, told officers Cline had a Dodge Dakota truck with a loud exhaust system, the report said.

The report said Cline contacted police later that day to say he had seen Wimberly and Watson enter and rob the residence as he was leaving. The report said Cline made “several inconsistent statements” about the robbery before telling police he tried to buy marijuana from the two men, who told him they did not have any, the report said.

When Cline told them he was going to the Lewis Avenue residence to buy some, the two men told him they were going with him and would rob the place, the report said.

The report said Cline told officers he went to the house and found out who was home because he feared Wimberly and Watson would injure him if he did not. He told offiers he waited outside for 10-15 minutes while the men robbed the place, the report said.