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Fair Police seek 2 after armed home invasion
Victim was targeted, officials say; woman was sexually assaulted
Nassau County police are looking for two armed men who they said accosted a man outside his East Hawthorne Avenue home on Monday morning, then bound him and ransacked the house. A woman in the house was sexually assaulted.
The 34-year-old man was leaving his home at around 7:10 a.m. when a man got out of a brown, older-model SUV and approached him. The man brandished a black semiautomatic handgun and demanded to know where the victim’s gold chain was. A second man bound the victim’s hands with duct tape and brought him inside the house.
The men encountered a 36-year-old woman inside. Her hands were bound behind her back, and one of the subjects sexually assaulted her, according to Nassau County police spokesman Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun. He declined to say what her relationship to the male victim was.
The first subject had the black handgun, and the other took a black “assault-type” rifle out of a black duffel bag, LeBrun said. The men ransacked the home and put the proceeds, including an undetermined amount of cash and assorted jewelry, in the bag before fleeing in an unknown direction. They were in the home for about 10 minutes.
The male victim called police. No injuries were reported.
“Residents should be aware that detectives believe that this robbery and sexual assault was an isolated incident and not a random act within their community,” LeBrun said, adding that it was not known if the male victim had any relationship with the subjects, but that police believed they were somehow known to each other because of the statement about the gold chain, which the victim was not wearing. LeBrun described it as a “high-priced article” that the men knew the victim wore. He said it was not known whether the chain was taken from the home.
The first subject was described as black and 6 feet tall, with a slim build, and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black jeans and black boots. The second man was described as black and 5 feet 7, with a medium build, and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black jeans, black boots and a dark facemask covering his mouth.
Police ask that anyone with information about the crime call (800) 244-TIPS.
