SPARTA, Mich. -- Laura Klaasan can't believe her neighbors were victims of a home invasion. Police responded just before 9 a.m. Friday to a report of a break-in in the 200 block of Alma in Sparta.
The victim had been held at gunpoint, according to police.
"They're down-to-earth people. They really are. They're good people," Klaasan described her neighbors.
Sparta police said a woman in her early 20s was home alone when two men broke in, tied her up and rummaged through the house.
"They were there at gunpoint with a mask on their face," Klaasan said.
She added, "I thought, 'Oh my God!'"
FOX 17 spoke with another neighbor who lives down the street where the victim reportedly ran to. Apparently the men were trying to find a safe. The neighbor said the victim didn't know the combination. As the men searched the home, the woman jumped out of a window and still had duct tape on her body.
According to a neighbor, the woman said one of the men's voices may have been familiar.
Klaasan said, "[It] scares the life out of me. I like Sparta. I've been here since '96. It scares the life out of me that something like this just across the street is going on."
Like Klaasan, Sparta police chief Andrew Milanowski said home invasion isn't typical in the village.
"I've been here 29 years and it is rare. It's not happened very often in my career here. But we've had similar things in the past," Milanowski said.
The chief said Kent County detectives are on the case.
"A police department of our size, it's very important to have the manpower of the Kent County Sheriff's Department helping us and the partnership works very well. They help us out in every major case. They never balk on helping us," Milanowski said.
No one was hurt. The two men are still on the run. The chief believes this may be an isolated incident.
If you have any information, call Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345.
