Police said a group of masked men broke into a Rhawnhurst home around 11:30 p.m. on Monday night and assaulted three people during a robbery.
Three or four men wearing ski masks and gloves pushed in a window air conditioner in the dining room to enter the house on the 2200 block of Rhawn Street near Bustleton Avenue, according police.
Authorities said they used rope to tie up a husband and wife who were sleeping in the basement. At least one of the men was armed, and he pistol-whipped the middle-aged couple, police said.
The suspects also used a lamp to beat a woman, described as the couple’s cousin, who was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom, according to police. She was tied up with electrical tape.
All three suffered minor injuries and were transported to Nazareth Hospital in stable condition, authorities said.
The suspects took $400 in cash and an iPhone, according to police. They left through the window and fled in an unknown direction.
Police did not recover a weapon at the scene, and no arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon.
Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum of Northeast Detectives said the robbery’s motive is unclear. The family is Asian, and they are not business owners, he said.
“We think they were targeted. We don’t know why,” Rosenbaum said. “They don’t know why they were targeted. They don’t have any large sums of money.”
Rosenbaum said the home invasion may have been a case of mistaken identity or the suspects may have received incorrect information. ••
