Home invaders threaten handicapped Des Plaines man

Home invaders ransacked the residence of a handicapped Des Plaines man, threatening to kill him if he didn’t cooperate with them, police said.

The victim, who lives in the 900 block of Mason Lane, told police that four or five male home invaders forced open the back door at his home around 4 p.m. May 18 and told him they were there because of an electrical fire and ordered him to leave.

As he has trouble moving around, he did not comply. They then asked him where the money was, with one man threatening to kill him if he did not give them the money. One of the men took the victim’s cellphone and then the men made several trips in and out of the house, carrying off a TV, silver coins from a safe and cash in an envelope, total value estimated at $5,000.

Witnesses saw a silver sedan parked in front of the house between 4 and 5 p.m. and a silver pickup truck in the victim’s driveway. The men were described as olive skinned, speaking a foreign language into two-way radios.

The victim told officers two men with similar features forced their way into his home in 2002, stating there was a fire in the backyard.