TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

4 Men Sought In 'Odd' Home Robbery

ADVERTISEMENT

By LISA A. DAVIS and CHRIS URSO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 11, 2008

HUDSON - With a dresser drawer attached to her wrist by handcuffs, Norma Neumann stepped outside her mobile home Thursday and spotted a neighbor.

"Robert, Robert, I just got robbed," she yelled.

"When?" Robert Thomason asked.

"Just now. They went out and went through the woods," Neumann said.

That's when Thomason sprung into action.

"We took off after them but they got away," he said.

Neighbors told authorities they saw four men running with guns near the home on Joshua Lane. The men escaped in a large, tan, four-door vehicle, Pasco County sheriff's officials said.

Neumann, 63, had returned home from a doctor appointment just before noon and was sitting in her living room when a man, whose face was masked with a bandanna, appeared from her back door, according to sheriff's office spokesman Kevin Doll.

The intruder ordered her into her bedroom and handcuffed her to a dresser. He then stole guns, possibly knives and other valuables, Doll said. Neumann was not injured. "She did have some heart palpitations, we think, afterwards ... due to her fright," Doll said, adding that Neumann declined medical treatment.

Neighbor Robin Hampshire said Neumann was "very shaken up" over the ordeal.

Neumann's husband, Ralph, wasn't home at the time of the robbery. Hampshire, who has known the couple for years, said she didn't understand how anyone could do this to them.

"They're very nice people," she said. "It was totally odd out here."

Paramedics had to cut the handcuffs off Neumann's wrists.

Late Thursday afternoon, deputies were still searching by air and ground with the help of dogs.

The canines tracked a scent that abruptly ended near power lines, which is where authorities think the car was waiting.

"We do believe that they are armed and dangerous," Doll said. Neumann "did see one of them load one of the handguns before they left," he said.

There is no further description of the armed men, other than that they could be in their teens or 20s. Deputies were trying to figure out why they preyed on Neumann.

"We are looking into whether or not somehow or some way that the victim knew the suspects, because only one came in," Doll said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at 1-800-854-2862.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

Photographer Chris Urso can be reached at curso@tampatrib.com or (813) 731-1565. Photographer Chris Urso can be reached at curso@tampatrib.com or (813) 731-1565.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT