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Salt Lake police are looking for three men who assaulted and robbed a 64-year-old woman in her own home. The violent crime happened right in the middle of the afternoon.
The woman didn't want to do an interview, but she was visibly upset and scared when I talked to her. When I knocked on her door, she looked out a small window and was hesitant to answer. That's how one of the suspects approached her this afternoon.
Salt Lake City police spokesman Detective Jeff Bedard said, "One would think that answering your door in the middle of the afternoon wouldn't pose any problems."
Police say the man on the other side of the door appeared to have honest intentions. "[He] offered to pull the weeds in her yard for $5," Bedard said.
But instead of doing yard work, the hired hand came back to the door with two other men. "They were pointing a handgun at her, forced their way into the home, hit her with a pistol," Bedard said.
The victim said she was also stabbed three times with a knife. The wounds were superficial, but she showed us a cut on her hand. She says the men tied her up, took some of her things, including her big-screen TV, then made their escape in a van she just bought.
Neighbor Chuck Young said, "It's way out of line. People like that don't need to be on the street, they need to be locked up and put somewhere."
Another neighbor says he saw two men wearing hoodies loitering across the street last night. He says they even walked into the woman's backyard before running away. He doesn't know if they're the same men, but he didn't want to do an interview because he was scared they might come back.
Police want to find the men before they target someone else. "If you look at the behavior our three suspects exhibited today, it shows just how dangerous and unpredictable they are," Bedard said.
Police haven't found the woman's van. It's a Chrysler Town and Country van, green and blue in color, with handicapped license plate 6974T.
If you have any information, call the Salt Lake City Police Department at 799-3000.
E-mail: syi@ksl.com
