Malibu resident targeted in armed robbery rallies community to fight back against rising crime rates
After her home was targeted in an armed robbery on March 16, Joanne Mosconi is taken matters into her own hands, rallying other members of her community together to fight back against rising crime rates across Southern California.
The original incident unfolded just before 9 p.m. Wednesday, after Joanne and her husband returned home from dinner with friends, when they left the house again briefly, leaving her behind to get ready for bed.
"I went into my bedroom, I was exhausted," she said, detailing the moment where she realized what was happening. "I started hearing noises around my house. I thought it was an earthquake, because the noises I started hearing were doors shaking."
Instead, it was two men -- armed with guns -- forcing entry into her home.
Joanne grabbed her dog and fled into the street in front of her home, shouting for help. These frightening moments could be seen via security camera footage from the Mosconi home.
She showed what used to be the glass door entering her home -- now covered with a large sheet of plywood -- to CBS reporters on Sunday.
Even though Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies were called to the scene, no suspects have yet been arrested in connection with the incident.
Now, Joanne is rallying other members of her neighborhood together in hopes that they'll never have to go through what she did earlier this week.
"What if this was an elderly woman, a pregnant woman, or an older man? They wouldn't have been able to get out. What would they do if they had two guns in their house?" she said.
Her worries are confirmed by the LASD's assumptions that the upscale Malibu neighborhood had been previously scoped out by the suspects, and it likely wasn't the only spot that they were planning to target.
"Let's create consequences, so that these criminals are not incentivized," she said.
As the Mosconi family equips their home with a better alarm system and security cameras, Joanne has created a website for her community with the goal of helping her community start fighting back against the crime that never used to be a problem in their city.
Though she may never truly feel comfortable in her own home again, she's willing to fight for the comfortability of others.
"I remember feeling this comfort, like, 'I'm home with my dog,'" she continued. "They stole that from me. I don't know if I'll ever feel that again, and that is worth fighting for."