Two Masked Men Break In, Set House On Fire In Back Of The Yards
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two masked men broke into a home in Back of the Yards and set the house on fire late Saturday night before fleeing the scene, Chicago Police say.
Two men with their faces "partially covered" entered the home in the 5400 block of South Damen Avenue around 11:45 p.m., according to police. The men then displayed a weapon at a 33-year-old man who had been sleeping inside before going upstairs where a 56-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman were.
The two men struck the older man with a handgun. Police originally thought the intruders stabbed the older man in the abdomen, but hospital staff determined the man was not stabbed, but possibly sustained a laceration from broken glass. The intruders then took property from the home before dousing the entire house with gasoline and setting it on fire.
A man inside the house says he saw what happened. "They stomped him a few times, stabbed him in the stomach, and they poured gasoline on me and him and set the house on fire," he said. "Once the house caught on fire, I grabbed my daughter, I ran downstairs to put her coat and shoes on... and I got her out the house as soon as I could."
The 56-year-old man was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in stable condition, police say. The other people in the house escaped.
Police say everyone made it out safely and no other injuries were reported. The 6-year-old daughter did not witness the crime.
The two intruders ran away in an unknown direction. No one is in custody, and Area Central detectives are investigating.
