Roseville

Roseville family robbed at gunpoint in their home

By Sara Kandel
C & G Staff Writer

A family was robbed at gunpoint in their home in the 27000 block of Blum Street during the late evening Jan. 22.

The family was home watching TV when the armed robbers kicked in the side door of their home and approached the family with handguns drawn.

“They were just sitting there relaxing on a Tuesday evening when the two suspects kicked in the door and, both wielding handguns, confronted the family and demanded the keys to the family’s car,” said Police Chief James Berlin. “They took the keys, got in the car and immediately fled the area.

Investigating officers believe the family was the victim of a random robbery and that the suspects were, for some reason, desperate to flee the area.

“They had the family at gunpoint but they didn’t take anything other than the car,” Berlin said.

“They didn’t ask about or attempt to take the TV, computer or jewelry. They were only interested in the car. Once they had the keys, they immediately left. This adds an air of desperation around the entire incident and has led us to believe they were desperate to flee the area.”

But figuring out why they were so desperate to flee the area is proving to be a difficult task.

“Investigators haven’t found any incidents in the immediate vicinity in which the suspects may have been the perpetrators, necessitating the need to flee the area in such a desperate way,” Berlin said.

Investigating officers put out a be-on-the-lookout for both the stolen vehicle and any incidents that occurred just prior to the robbery that the suspects might have been involved with, causing them to need to flee the area so quickly.

Berlin said that it is likely, if they were involved in another incident, it was nearby. The 27000 block of Blum is located in the city’s center, near the I-696 service drive, and since no abandoned vehicles were found nearby, it is likely the suspects were on foot prior to robbing the family.

“Warren’s eastern border is about a mile away from where the incident took place, so it would have been quite a hike if they were fleeing on foot from an incident that took place there,” Berlin said. “But we notified neighboring departments, because we can’t say for certain if the suspects arrived on foot.”

The stolen vehicle is a 2008 Chevy TrailBlazer.

“We’re hoping the vehicle will be spotted and we will be able to get it back and obtain evidence from it,” Berlin said. At press time the vehicle had not been located.

The victims described both suspects as black men approximately 18-22 years old. They were able to offer a more detailed description of one of the suspects, describing him as 5 feet 8 inches tall to about 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a gray hoodie and jeans and carrying a blue steel semiautomatic handgun.

Berlin said that while this incident was frightening, these types of incidents are not common in Roseville and residents do not need to be alarmed.

“This is very rare for us,” he said. “On occasion, we have had home invasions where the people were home, but the suspects did not know and were caught off guard by their presence in the home, usually causing them to flee, but it is very rare for suspects to actually seek out an occupied home.”

Anyone with information regarding this incident, the suspects involved or the whereabouts of the stolen vehicle is urged to contact the Roseville Police Department at (586) 447-4483.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Sara Kandel at skandel@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1030.