Police: Men Used Flowers For L.I. Home Invasion
WOODBURY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A family in an upscale New York community was just hanging out at home when the doorbell rang.
Police say not only did the man at the door bring flowers, but he also brought a gun, a taser, and five other men with sinister intentions.
"He put his hand on my mouth, 'don't shout, don't scream, I'll shoot you,'" one victim said.
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She didn't want her name revealed as she told CBS 2's Dave Carlin how six men, all identified by police, terrorized and robbed her family.
Early Friday afternoon, one of the men came up the front steps of the home on Orchard Drive in Woodbury, rang the doorbell and presented flowers.
"He gave me the bouquet, the flowers, and I held it, and then he pulled the gun out from his bag and put it on my head," the victim said.
Police say more suspects stormed the house, two armed with guns and another with a taser. They tied up a 61-year-old woman and held her 67-year-old husband, his male home health aide, and two women.
However, the suspects were initially unaware that an 18-year-old daughter was upstairs in a bathroom, and she was on the phone.
"For this 18-year-old girl to have the presence of mind to lock herself in the bathroom and dial 911, and leave the line open," Detective Lieutenant Kevin Smith, of the Nassau County Police Department, said.
The young woman who saved her family agreed to be interviewed as long as she wasn't identified.
"I heard distant voices and I was just like, 'this isn't normal,' and the first thing that popped into my head was call the cops," she said.
Then one of the suspects found her, though, and kicked in the bathroom door.
"He got me in my bathroom and then just searched me, and he was like, 'do you have a phone on you, do you have a phone on you,' and I was like, 'no,'" she said. "He passed me to the other guy with the gun."
As the driveway in front of the home filled up with police vehicles – 12 of them – the suspects were fleeing into a wooded area, beyond which is a country club. The suspects didn't get very far.
"There were police all over," a neighbor said.
Officers with search dogs, and others in helicopters, quickly rounded up the six men: 23-year-old Michael Mohammed, 31-year-old Randolph Chase, 32-year-old Glen Campbell, 24-year-old Goutan Persaud, 29-year-old Aadam Yusuf, and 27-year-old Jose Fuertes.
All of the suspects have New York City addresses, and they all face charges of robbery, burglary, conspiracy and criminal use of a firearm.
None of the victims was injured, and most of the stolen cash and jewelry were recovered. It was a happy ending for the scary case thanks to the quick-thinking 18-year-old and some fast-acting cops.
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