A 48-year-old man answered a knock at a St. Paul home and was suddenly face-to-face with two men with handguns who pushed their way inside.

They pistol whipped the man and forced other family members to lie on the ground at gunpoint. One of the suspects dragged a 12-year-old girl to a bedroom and threatened to sexually assault her if they didn’t get the money they sought, according to criminal complaints.

Someone in the East Side home Monday night was talking on the phone with her boyfriend when the men burst into the home, according to a police report. She was able to tell him about the armed men and he called police. Officers responded to the residence on East Maryland Avenue, near Hazel Street, at 11:50 p.m.

Looking through a window, officers could see a man holding a gun and two people lying on the floor. On-duty members of the SWAT team responded.

A short time later, officers saw two men leave the house and arrested them.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office on Wednesday charged 27-year-old Montrell Dominique Harris and 30-year-old Livon Cortez Bradford, also known as Livon Luckett, with aggravated robbery, burglary and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a crime of violence.

There were five family members home during the robbery, including two juveniles. They told officers they didn’t know the suspects, according to police.

“This is an incredibly rare call where officers interrupt a home invasion (of) this magnitude,” St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell said Thursday. “This call could have ended in a chaotic tragedy.”

When inside the home, the suspects “demanded to know the location of the drugs or money,” according to the criminal complaints. They took an envelope containing more than $7,000 in cash from the man they pistol whipped, his gold necklace and gold wedding ring, the complaints said.

The man was struck five to six times with a handgun, “causing him to bleed and suffer bumps to his head,” the complaints said. He also reported that one of the men punched him and one kicked him when he was on the ground.

A 25-year-old had about $500 stolen from her purse. After the arrests, police found $7,852 with Harris, the complaints said.

Harris and Bradford declined to speak with police.

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Minneapolis teen charged in shooting death of campaign worker Both are ineligible to possess firearms, according to the complaints. As juveniles, both were adjudicated delinquent — Harris for aggravated robbery and violation of controlled-substance law; and Bradford for third-degree criminal-sexual conduct. Harris was convicted of burglary in 2011, and Bradford was convicted of violation of controlled substance law in 2008 and robbery in 2014.

The two made initial court appearances Thursday afternoon. Their attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.