Police search for break-in suspects

WINCHESTER -- Two armed suspects broke into a home early Sunday morning and threatened a mother of four, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office said Monday.

The home invasion occurred shortly after 3:30 a.m. at a residence in the 200 block of Bridgestock Drive, according to Maj. Robert "Robbie" Eckman. The two men forced their way into the townhouse and woke up a 28-year-old woman who had just moved into the residence with her four children that day, Eckman said.

"Both subjects were supposedly armed with small, shiny, silver-colored handguns, and the suspects demanded to know where 'D' is or was," Eckman said.

The victim likely did not know the suspects, Eckman said, and they "may not have realized that there was a new tenant."

The victim described the men as black, last seen wearing dark, hooded sweatshirts, dark-colored pants, and bandannas to conceal their faces, Eckman said. The suspects took the woman's cell phone, pocketbook and cash. A K-9 officer searched the area and officers recovered some of the suspects' clothing and the cell phone at Front Royal Pike and Airport Road, he said. They found a black bandanna near Airport Road.

No physical injuries were reported by the victim, Eckman said.

Anyone with information may call the Sheriff's Office at 662-6162 or Crime Solvers at 665-TIPS. Investigator Dave Ellinger, assigned to the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, is handling the case.
- Daily staff report