A suburban mayor issued a warning to the community after a report of a shocking home invasion that left a senior tied up and at gunpoint following a routine trip to the grocery store.
“Last night, right before the Village Board meeting, I was notified by the Will County sheriff’s office that a home invasion had taken place in Homer Glen,” Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike wrote in a Facebook post. “The victim is fine, rather shaken, but not injured.”
According to Neitzke-Troike, an older woman had pulled into her garage and was unloading groceries when someone near the side of her home came into the garage and held her at gunpoint. Behind them in her driveway, a car pulled up, Neitzke-Troike said, with another person getting out also pointing a gun.
The sheriff’s office confirmed the incident happened just before 3 p.m. Wednesday in the 16800 block of South Deer Path.
The woman told police the first man demanded cash from her and the second man got out of a dark-colored Acura she noticed has been following her. The Acura was found to have been stolen out of Chicago.
The two forced the woman inside her home and proceeded to tie her to a chair using rope and telephone cords, Neitzke-Troike said. The suspects then rummaged through her home, taking valuables and threatening to kill her if she didn’t provide her correct credit card PIN numbers.
“They removed a credit card from her purse, demanding her PIN number, threatening her life. Shortly after leaving the residence, the offenders withdrew $2,000 from the victim’s account at a bank located in Orland Park,” the sheriff’s office said in a release.
About 20 minutes after the two left, the woman managed to escaped the restraints and ran to a neighbors home to call 911, police said.
Authorities said the vehicle appeared headed back toward Chicago after the incident but no arrests have been made. They said investigators believe the attack was random, “but targeted due to the victim’s age.”
“When coming and going out of your home or the stores, please check your surroundings,” Neitzke-Troike said.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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