A similar home invasion took place at a home in a neighborhood near Atwater, in Merced County, on Tuesday. Merced County Sheriff's Deputy Tom Mackenzie said a 23-year-old man bringing his ten-month-old daughter home, when he was met by men with guns. The incident happened just before noon on Tuesday.
"When he went up to his residence he found several armed men inside waiting for him. They actually pulled him inside, tied him up started demanding cash and started to ransack his house," said Mackenzie.
Family members said the gunmen placed the infant in a walker. The baby was not hurt. They then stole the victim's car, but abandoned it a few blocks away. The young man lived in the home with his parents and other siblings. Locksmith Larry Watson was hired to fix the damage and said it was obvious how the robbers got in.
"On the garage door the door jamb was split and on the front door the double door, the double door got busted so it looks like it kicked in," said Watson.
Watson says he's seeing more and more home break-ins. Neighbors, like Laurie Havel are nervous.
"Very scary. Very scary and very disheartening something like this would happen in a very nice community," said Havel.
Law enforcement says that in most home invasions there's a connection between the victim and the robber. But Mackenzie says, in these cases it looks like the victims were picked because they live in affluent neighborhoods.
"Usually, a lot of times you'll find with home invasions there was some kind of previous contact or there was some kind of argument or disagreement between the suspect and the victim. Like I said, the last few we've had, that doesn't seem to be the case," said Mackenzie.
There's no evidence the home invasions are related ... Or if there's any connection to a home invasion that occurred in a Kerman neighborhood on Monday.
