Exclusive: Fake Mailmen Invade Brooklyn Home In Broad Daylight
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A terrifying home invasion took place in broad daylight in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn Monday.
Police say a robber dressed as a postal worker and tricked a family to get inside their house and rob them Monday afternoon.
Surveillance video exclusively obtained by CBS2 shows what appears to be a mailman walking up the steps of the home to make a delivery around 12:45 p.m.
"Somebody knocked on the door, a guy wearing a USPS jacket," said Aziz Ziyaev. "He asked me to sign something. When I looked down, he pepper sprayed me."
Ziyaev, 20, was barely able to see. Suddenly, the college student was placed in a chokehold by a second man, who trailed up the stairs behind the first. The first man had already pushed his way inside the home.
"The other one was holding me in a chokehold and then second guy and was looking through the house for things," Ziyaev told CBS2's Reena Roy.
His mind racing as his sister-in-law hid in a room with her toddler. They were never expecting this at their quiet home.
"I was scared, and just scared for the baby, because she had a 1-year-old baby in hand," he said.
Ziyaev said the men spent several minutes rummaging through their belongings before running off. He told Roy it all happened in the blink of an eye, and is still working to figure out if they got away with anything.
"He told the other guy 'Let's go, let's go,' and they they just ran out," Ziyaev said. "I was just shocked. It happened so fast."
The suspects can be seen on surveillance video going quickly down the stairs one by one, then walking away on the sidewalk. Since then, police have been on the hunt, hoping to find them before they strike again.
Police are looking into whether or not the suspects may have targeted the wrong home.