At least seven Valley homes have been hit by brazen robbers, six just this week alone. Now, investigators tell Action News they've connected the dots on three of those cases. There is a link between the break-ins ... in Kerman, Clovis, and Selma.
A handful of men have targeted mostly Punjabi speaking families. Investigators believe the same group is responsible for recent home invasions in Clovis, Selma and Kerman ... and they could be to blame for even more in the Merced area.
Late last month, a 2 ½ year-old and her five-year-old sister were forced to be tour guides for a group of five men who kicked in their front door armed with guns. Their grandparents were tied up and held at gunpoint for a half an hour. The family is too terrified to reveal their identity.
"I'm just so scared. You know. We are just not getting over this shock, you know. The way it happened and how it happened in the daylight, it's just mind-blowing."
Sheriff's Investigators have linked the invasion of this family's Clovis home, to another home invasion earlier this week in Kerman ... and also to a third outside Selma on Tuesday. Four Merced area home invasions could also be related. There are several similarities.
Fresno County Undersheriff Scott Jones said, "In all of the home invasion robberies, there has been multiple suspects, they're all armed with dark colored handguns, they wear dark sunglasses and they wear hooded sweatshirts type jackets and they're pulling the hoods over their heads."
The robbers left behind all costume jewelry ... they wanted the real gold. They also asked for cash and forced the victims to take off any jewelry of value they were wearing.
Recent upgrades in security on doors and windows show how fearful this family is now.
"This house is not a home anymore, you know."
Action News has learned the robbers act almost the same way during each break in.
Typically the group has a lookout waiting in a vehicle ... while two armed men hold hostage any adults. The children in the home are then forced to answer questions and show the armed robbers around the home. In several invasions, the adults have also been tied up with cell phone charging cords. Several victims are of East Indian descent.
Deputies want those in the Valley's Punjabi community to be especially aware of the terrorizing trend ... and they say families can take simple steps to be less vulnerable.
"That's the message I'm putting out through their community leaders. Put your cash and your gold in safe deposit boxes in banks and those places to keep it safe and to keep you safe," Undersheriff Jones.
Investigators want your help to find a car they believe the suspects are using. It's a late model white Jeep Cherokee. It has tinted windows and Arizona plates.
If you have any information, please call the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators say the victims have not been hurt during the home invasions ... likely because during each one, the victims all cooperated with the suspects' demands.
