MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – Three Oakland men are being investigated for their alleged involvement in an early morning home invasion robbery and assault in Fort Bragg over the weekend.

William Taylor, 24; Jelani Kelly, 27, and Robert Miller, 41, were taken into custody within hours of the incident, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

Smallcomb said at approximately 7:10 a.m. on Sunday, April 22, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Communications Center received a 911 telephone call from a Fort Bragg resident advising that her neighbor needed assistance as he had been hurt during a possible robbery.

Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies responded to the location on Boice Lane and located the victim, 29-year-old Daniel Alonso.

Alonso told deputies that he was asleep inside his residence early that morning when two suspects busted into his residence via the front door, Smallcomb said. The two suspects then allegedly started beating on Alonso with a crowbar and stabbed him with a knife.

Smallcomb said Alonso believed the suspects were trying to remove his marijuana from the residence. He had approximately 51 small plants inside his home.

The two suspects – later identified as Kelly and Taylor, who Alonso said he had met previously – then fled the residence and left the location driving a red SUV, Smallcomb said.

Medical personnel transported Alonso to an out-of-county hospital for treatment of stab wounds and blunt force injuries to his upper torso, according to Smallcomb.

Smallcomb said deputies conducted further follow up investigation and confirmed the identities of the suspects. A be on the look out was placed for the suspect vehicle and communicated to southern law enforcement entities.

At approximately 9:30 a.m. that same day Cloverdale Police officers conducted a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle, a red Lincoln Navigator, at Highway 101 near the Highway 128 intersection, Smallcomb said. Inside the vehicle were both suspects along with a Robert Miller.

Both Taylor and Kelly were booked into the Mendocino County Jail for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, Smallcomb said. Kelly also had a misdemeanor warrant for his arrest.  

Smallcomb said Taylor's bail was set at $250,000 and Kelly's at $265,000. Miller was arrested for a violation of parole, and is being held without bail.

Mendocino County Sheriff's detectives are continuing to conduct further investigation into the incident.  It is unknown what items, if any, the suspects removed from the residence, Smallcomb said.