4 men rob family, beat woman in home invasion

Robbers escape with family's car, cash

SUGAR LAND, Texas – Four men burst into a home in Sugar Land Monday night, beat a woman and stole thousands of dollars.

Investigators said someone, pretending to be delivering pizza, knocked on the front door of a house in the 7400 block of Baldwin Crossing and Mayfair shortly before 10 p.m. A husband, wife and adult daughter were inside. The men, wearing bandanas, forced their way inside when the wife answered the door and hit her over the head, officials said.

"My mom says, 'I didn't order pizza,'" said the daughter, who requested not to be identified. "She tried shutting the door closed, she tried shoving. He shoved back and she bit him."

"Four men rushed inside. At least one displayed a weapon and demanded money they knew was inside the house. The homeowners would not provide the information on where the money was so a 53-year-old woman was pistol-whipped until they gave up the location of the money," said Doug Adolph with the city of Sugar Land.

The robbers got away with thousands of dollars, two TVs, laptop computers, jewelry and the family's car. The car was described as a silver 2003 Toyota Camry with Texas license plate No. BZ9Z060.

The family owns a dry-cleaning business in Houston, and brought home a large amount of cash every night to the house, so police believe the family was targeted, police said.

"Criminals know that this happens. Whether or not they are involved with the business owner some way, or they just fit the profile, they bring this money home, they put their families in danger, they put their neighbors in danger and it's something that is just very dangerous," Adolph said.

The woman is expected to be OK.

Police don't have any suspects, which worries neighbors.

"I just heard about it, so I'm concerned, extremely concerned because Sugar Land to me is a safe place. This is concerning to me. I'm going to step back in my home, talk to my wife, tell her what happened, make sure we are extra careful," Sundy Srinivasan said.

The victims said they weren't able to get good descriptions of the men.

"Honestly, we have no idea what these guys look like," the daughter said. "Three had masks on."

The family wanted to alert others that crime can happen anywhere.

"Don't open the door," the daughter said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers at 281-342-TIPS.