Lorain men face charges in home invasion of former teacher

A pair of 18-year-old Lorain men are facing a slew of charges in connection to the October home invasion of former teacher and sports radio personality Jim Popiel.

Mariano Cruz Jr. and Christopher Serrano were juveniles at the time of the incident, but their cases were bound over to the Lorain County Common Pleas general division in May.

A Lorain County grand jury indicted them in June.

Both men are facing two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated burglary and two counts of felonious assault.

Each count also carries two firearm specifications.

According to Lorain police, at 3 a.m., Oct. 17, the 76-year-old Popiel was attacked in his home while sleeping in his bedroom at a residence in the 3200 block of Regina Avenue.

He told police he’d been struck in the head with a blunt object he believed to be a gun.

Police said Popiel was struck when he did not give Cruz and Serrano information about where he kept his safe and money.

They said the men went through the rooms in his house while he lied on the floor bleeding and took his wallet and cellphone.

The men were arrested April 9 and were incarcerated at the Lorain County Juvenile Detention Facility.

Serrano is scheduled for a pretrial Sept. 7; Cruz is schedule for a pretrial Sept. 21.

Common Pleas Judge D. Chris Cook is presiding over the case.