CONCORD (KRON) — Seventy-three-year-old John Panieri says he was tied up and robbed at his Concord home on Wednesday night — an experience he described as traumatic.
“When the guy is standing with his gun in your face — I mean he was just a couple feet away from me and threatening to kill me,” Panieri said.
Panieri, who mostly lives alone, says he was just settling in for bed when the masked men, armed with handguns, tied his wrists with an electrical cord and then demanded money.
“He said ‘we’re here to rob you. I want cash. cash only,’” he said.
They rummaged through his dressers where they found more than $2,000 dollars and forced him to hand over the keys to his Malibu parked in front of the home on Crawford Street.
From there they stole another $200 bucks and took off.
“I was scared,” Panieri said. “Of course, I think I thanked them probably three times for different reasons like not shooting me, like please don’t,” he said.
Panieri says this trail of dried mud leads to where the robbers got in.
This back window may have been cracked making for an easy entry.
This crime comes just days after two people were injured in a similar home invasion in Lafayette.
Police say three armed men snuck into a home on crestmont drive where they tied up the homeowner and another person.
The men then stole several things.
Police say they got in through an open garage door.
Panieri says his frightening ordeal lasted a little more than 30 minutes.
He wasn’t seriously hurt but he’s now concerned for the safety of his neighbors.
“If you see something, and I didn’t see these guys, suspicious or unusual, call 911,” Panieri said.