Men violently rob Sterling Heights woman in her home

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – Sterling Heights police are searching for a group of men who broke into a 61-year-old grandmother's home Sunday, beating and robbing her.

"Police tell us we were targeted," said the victim's son. "But the way my mother said they were communicating with people on the outside, it seemed planned."

Police said the men pried open a screen to the sliding patio door of the home on Hannebauer Lane, which is in the area of Hayes and Clinton River roads, around 1 p.m.

"They kept saying, 'Where is the money? Where is the money? Where is the money?'" the victim told Local 4. "I told him, 'I don't have anymore.' He said, 'Where is the jewelry?' I told him, 'Take my jewelry.'"

The victim said she was dragged down her hall, tied up, pistol-whipped and dragged down basement stairs -- but not before they used the victim's safe from her bedroom to smash the basement door that was locked.

Police said the men tried to break into two safes for nearly 20 minutes, possibly on the thought that the victim had a large amount of cash in her home.

"They took my jewelry box and threw it at my head and said, 'That's not enough, I'm going to shoot you," the victim said.

The men stole the victim's Rolex and wedding band before police said they took off on foot, hopping a backyard fence.

Relatives who arrived to visit the home found the victim still tied up with a pillow cover over her head in the basement. She suffered only minor injuries.

"I am angry what they did to my family home and my mother," said the victim's son. "I invite them to my home, where I'll be waiting."

The family said it plans to offer a reward to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest.

Police have not released detailed descriptions of the victim's attackers. The victim told Local 4 the men were wearing athletic-type clothing.

"I saw their shoes," she said. "One had white Nike shoes and was blonde holding the gun, the other was husky with dark hair."

A police K-9 unit was brought to the scene and tracked a scent, but no arrests have been made.