Evanston Couple Duct-Taped, Robbed Of Valuable Artwork
EVANSTON (CBS)--They came to the house Friday morning, saying they had a delivery. But instead they attacked an Evanston couple, restrained them with duct tape, and stole artwork.
It's enough to strike terror in the hearts of neighbors who live on Central Avenue. Three men barged in to rob a couple in their 60s and roughed them up.
One of the victims talked with CBS 2's Pamela Jones.
"They threw me to the ground, which is not hard to do," he said.
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He says they stepped on him and his wife and duct-taped them so they couldn't move.
The three suspects had apparently cased the home. The victim says the men met him in front of his house. He'd just come home from breakfast. They told him they had to deliver a package, and then followed him into the home.
"I was dumb enough. I should have gone out and seen what he said was in the truck," the victim tells Jones.
But police say the men rushed the couple and pushed their way in.
They think the suspects were looking for pricey works of art. The victim says he sold one at a public Sotheby's auction that was worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"These individuals were specifically targeted to get this artwork," Evanston Police Cmdr. Jay Parrot says.
The home invaders took four pieces of artwork that police valued at between $100,000 to $200,000.
The men drove a white delivery truck and parked near the alley. The vehicle was marked with a rental logo, a witness said.
Right now, the victim is focused on helping his wife recover. He says the incident has taken its toll; she had a mild heart attack.
But he said he won't let what's happened ruin what's been a happy life in a quiet Evanston neighborhood.
"It's gonna take more than what these kids dished out this morning to shoot down an old New York city kid," he said.
Another robbery in which elderly victims were duct-taped happened in Romeoville on Wednesday.
