Three Ringgold men are behind bars following a botched home invasion in Catoosa County Sunday morning.

According to Catoosa County Sheriff Phil Summers, officers arrested the three men around 8 a.m. Sunday at a local convenience store after they allegedly donned ski-masks, and kicked in the door and entered a duplex at 61 Lowry Lane off Boynton Drive.

The alleged robbers — Michael Allen Cobb, 19, of 86 Johns Drive, Ringgold; Jeffrey Wayne Bearden, 26, of 49 Brookdale Lane, Ringgold; and Marshall Dwane Guthrie, 37, of 46 Boofer Road — face a number of charges, including armed robbery, burglary, kidnapping, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony.

Summers said two of the men entered the home, and a third lingered outside the residence in a getaway vehicle.

According to Summers, the victims, a husband and wife in their early 30s, were handcuffed, forced to the floor and held at gunpoint for about 30 minutes. He said after unsuccessfully searching the residence for money, the suspects took only a car stereo before fleeing the residence.

“They were demanding money, but the couple kept saying ‘We don’t have any money; we don’t know what you’re talking about,’” Summers said.

At approximately 7:32 a.m., one of the victims contacted 911 and gave a description of the vehicle, a black Chevrolet pick-up truck, and the suspects to law enforcement.

The sheriff said moments after the call deputies spotted the truckand followed it to the convenience store where the three suspects were arrested without incident. Officers recovered a sawed-off shotgun and .380 handgun, along with camouflage clothing and ski masks used in the attempted robbery.

He said the arrest went smoothly because the men did not expect police to be on their trail so quickly after the robbery.

“They were hoping they had not been reported yet or not been recognized,” Summers said. “One stayed in the truck, and two got out and went in the store. They were acting very casual when they were arrested.”

He said the couple was specifically targeted by the trio of attackers.

“There’s no question they had picked these people out,” the sheriff said. “I don’t think it was at random. Why they picked these people we do not know at this time. We do believe they knew each other.”

He said the three men do have a past criminal history with the Sheriff’s Department, but declined to give specific details.

All three suspects are being held in the Catoosa County Detention Center without bond following a court appearance Monday