PORTLAND – Police searched Friday for three men who broke into an apartment in Sagamore Village before dawn, tied up a woman and her children and robbed them at gunpoint.

The 40-year-old woman told police that she and her children, ages 9 and 11, were sleeping when the masked men burst into her Josslyn Street apartment, fired a gunshot and demanded money. The robbers fled with cash and a briefcase. Nobody was hurt.

Police were called to Sagamore Village — a low-income development operated by the Portland Housing Authority — at 2:46 a.m. and tracked the men with a police dog, but did not find them.

Assistant Police Chief Michael Sauschuck said home invasions are seldom random crimes, and that the robbers often have an idea of what they want and know of their victims, if they are not actually acquainted.

“Generally speaking, these types of offenses are committed when the suspects gather enough information where they think they’re going to find what they want at a particular location, whether that’s money or items,” Sauschuck said.

Some home invasions are related to the drug trade, but police don’t believe that was the case Friday morning, Sauschuck said. He would not elaborate on why the victims might have been targeted.

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Sauschuck declined to describe the contents of the briefcase or whether police believe that was targeted in the robbery.

Police asked anyone with information to contact them at 874-8533.

 

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com

 


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