Dallas

Three Dallas Brothers Home Alone When Robber Burst Inside in One of Series of Home Invasions

Police warn Oak Cliff residents about string of home invasions

Dallas police are stepping up patrols in Oak Cliff and warning residents about a series of home invasions.

Four similar crimes have been reported since Monday in the same neighborhood south of the Dallas Zoo.

In the first, about 6:45 a.m. Monday, 15-year-old Carlos Villareal was home with his 10-year-old twin brothers when a stranger showed up at the front door.

"He just started knocking. Then he knocked harder," said one of the twins, Andrew Villareal. "And he kept running at the door."

Even though the door was locked, the intruder forced his way inside.

The brothers recounted their ordeal with their mother's permission. The mother, who had briefly left home to drive her daughter to school, did not want to be interviewed herself.

"He just told me to get on the ground," Carlos Villareal said. "And I just went along with it. I thought ahead, because I knew if I would have done something to him, he would have done something to my brothers."

The gunman rummaged through drawers, and grabbed jewelry, their mother's purse and whatever else he could find while the brothers were left traumatized.

"Yes I was shaking," Andrew Villareal said.

The brothers saw only one gunman.

But the other victims describe as many as three suspects, one of them a woman.

Another person was described as a thin, short Hispanic male in his 20s, who may have a tattoo of lips on his neck.

They may be driving an older red sedan, possibly a Honda, police said.

Police say the bandits struck two more times on Monday, and again Thursday morning, in the same Oak Cliff neighborhood.

"I hope he gets caught and this doesn't happen to anybody else," Carlos Villareal said.

The crimes happened in the 2900 block of Britton Avenue, the 4700 block of East Frio Drive, the 1500 block of Maywood Avenue and the 3300 block of Idaho Avenue.

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