Caruthers woman and baby terrorized in home-invasion robbery

CARUTHERS, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Caruthers-area woman is recovering after a frightening ordeal. She was at home alone with her baby, when four people broke in early Friday morning. They threatened her with a gun, tied her up and robbed her house.

The victim's house sits off of Nebraska Avenue, concealed by vineyards. After the break-in at around 2 a.m., the victim ran for help down a long dusty driveway. She reached the closest house half a mile away clutching her baby, desperate for help. She made it to the closest house. The two women there did not want to be identified but told us what happened.

"She had no shoes on, she was crying, she had shoelaces tied around her wrists and she said somebody just robbed her at gunpoint. That they broke in through her window with a gun pointing at her, and they told her that if she panicked too much they were going to end up having to shoot her. And she told them not to hurt her. She said her only concern was that her baby was OK because her baby was right next to her. And it was chilly, and her baby was so tiny, yeah it was little. We wrapped her in a sweater. We were holding her for her because she was really frantic."

The victim said the robbers demanded money and guns, but she told them she didn't have any. They apparently left with household electronic items.

The Fresno County Sheriff's Department is looking for three men and a woman. Sheriff's spokesman Tony Botti told Action News it's not clear why the house was targeted. "Kind of makes you wonder. We're out here in such a rural area. Did they target this house because they knew what was inside, or did they maybe go there because it was so far off the road and they thought they could be discreet and maybe get away with something?"

The victim and her family didn't want to talk about what happened. But the neighbors who helped her and her baby are still worried. One of them said, "She was just scared, she was terrified and it terrified me because we live out here in the middle of nowhere too."