A Fort Worth family says two robbers woke them up and held them at gunpoint in their home on the southwest side. It sounds terrifying, but the couple says they weren't scared, and that may have kept them from getting hurt.[[438133233,R]]
They knew they needed to keep the situation under control to keep the two armed men — both in their early 20s — from doing anything stupid. So while one of the robbers took the husband to a nearby ATM for cash, his wife sat with the other guy at home and started making conversation.
The house on Riverbend Drive is an unlikely target.
"We're on the bend of Riverbend, not a busy street at all," said Cynthia Prosok.
The scenario was unexpected.
"We just woke up to two men standing beside our bed," Prosok said.
They were armed and one demanded money.
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"He threatened to shoot me, my husband, my dog," Prosok said.
But the most surprising part is how she describes the other robber.
"He was really nice," she said. "He shook my hand after and called me ma'am."
She sat with him for more than 20 minutes asking questions to keep the situation calm.
"One is from Houston, went to Dallas Can Academy. The other one didn't graduate high school. I don't think he got past the ninth grade," Prosok said. "I mean, what are you going to do in that circumstance, cry? I was making conversation."
Meanwhile, the more aggressive, threatening robber made her husband drive to a nearby ATM and take out cash. It's all they wanted. They got around $4,000.
"I don't think they wanted to hurt us," Prosok said. "I think they wanted money. He was like, 'I'm sorry I have to do this.' He said that."
On Wednesday, the family got every lock in the house changed, put in security cameras and vowed to turn on the alarm and lock every door every night.
"We've got a driveway gate, they scaled that and then this was unlocked," Prosok said, pointing to a back door.
The men had to walk past rows of family photos, seeing clearly what they were violating, as Prosok's teenage daughter slept through it all in her room.
"We're very lucky, it could have ended up much worse for us," Prosok said.
Her message now to anyone else in her situation: stay calm.
"Do what you need to do to get out of that situation," Prosok said.
Police say burglars typically want to find an empty house. But Prosok says the robbers told her they picked her home because of the cars parked outside. She thinks they were looking for a person to rob, so they could get to an ATM.
They were not wearing masks so the family has given a description, and Fort Worth detectives are following leads.
Data from Fort Worth shows there were 45 reports of home invasion robberies in 2016, and there are already 34 reports in 2017. July and August have been the most active month so far, with 13 reports.
