HOUSTON – A doorbell ring turned into a violent home invasion in west Harris County Monday evening.
According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, two men wearing pillowcases over their heads rang the doorbell of a home on Peach Valley near Bentvine about 8 p.m., then hid out of view.
Seeing no one at the door, homeowner Lou Iannuzzi cracked it open. That's when, he said, the two men forced their way inside.
"These two guys came in," Iannuzzi said. "One guy came in immediately and just grabbed me by the shoulder and pointed a gun to my head."
One of the men ordered Iannuzzi to lay face-down on the couch, tying his wrists up with the cord from a heating pad found in the living room.
Meanwhile, the other man went into the bedroom where his wife, Ann, was watching television.
"I was worried about my husband because they kept putting a gun to his head," Ann Iannuzzi said. "I thought, 'They're going to kill us. I know they're going to kill us.'"
"He put the gun to my head at least five or six times," Lou Iannuzzi said. "He put the pillow in front of my head. He said, 'This way it won't be that messy. I'm going to put a bullet through your head right now.'"
After ransacking the home for about 20 minutes looking for valuables, the invaders began to make their getaway.
"He told me to count to 30 very slowly and very loudly," Lou Iannuzzi said. "Before I got to 30, we heard a truck peeling out of the driveway."
Surveillance video from a neighbor's house caught a glimpse of a dark-colored pickup truck, missing a headlight, backing into the Iannuzzis' driveway.
Ann Iannuzzi said that the robbers got away with two laptop computers, a television and some cash.
"I'm very grateful that we're alive and that everything they took can be replaced," Ann Iannuzzi said. "I don't own a gun, but now there's a good reason to buy one."
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.