By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – The St. John Sheriff’s Office is investigating the burglary of a home in Reserve in which the victims were tied up at gunpoint and robbed.

The break in occurred around 3:30 a.m. Saturday in the 100 block of Hickory Street, and might be related to a similar home invasion that happened in the same block in July 2007.

Police said a 28-year-old resident of the home was awakened by light from a flashlight being shined in her face. Two suspects, one armed with a gun, asked the woman if anyone else was in the house. The victim informed the suspect that her 30-year-old husband and three-year-old daughter were in another bedroom of the house.

St. John Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Mike Tregre said all three victims were then brought together in a room and ordered to lie on a bed where the suspects proceeded to tie the adult victims up by their hands. The three-year-old was then ordered to lie between her parents. One suspect stood watch over the victims while the other searched the house.

Tregre said the suspects eventually fled the house with an undisclosed amount of cash and other items. None of the victims involved were injured in the robbery.

The investigation revealed that the suspects entered the residence through a back door of the home.

Tregre said investigators are looking into the possibility that this robbery is related to a similar burglary involving a 70-year-old man being hogtied by a 6-foot, 220-pound man with cord from a clock radio. Police reports said the elderly victim was awakened early in the morning by a tremendous clatter. He said a man wearing a ski mask kicked in the back door of his home claiming to be a deputy from St. John Sheriff’s Office.

Anyone with any information on either incident is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 985-652-9514. Detective Kenneth Mitchell is investigating both incidents.