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North Bergen Apartment Owner Recalls Armed Robbery In Office

NORTH BERGEN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - Police in New Jersey are on the hunt for two armed men who allegedly robbed an apartment building owner.

As CBS 2's Kathryn Brown reported, the suspects stole thousands of dollars in rent money.

The victim has owned an apartment building on Kennedy Boulevard in North Bergen with her husband for nearly two decades. The incident happened in the front office of the building on Tuesday morning, a short time after the victim collected rent payments.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, was in her office when, she said, two men wearing ski masks burst in waving handguns and demanding cash.

"Two guys, one chunkier and one skinnier, a little taller, with guns pointing at my face and my head and they told me 'we're not gonna hurt you just tell us where the safe is,'" the victim told Brown. "They pointed the gun again at my head and they said 'show us where the safe is.' Then I said 'I swear I don't have a safe, I don't own a safe. I have some money in my purse that I was gonna go deposit.'"

The victim told Brown she believes a man who came in asking about an apartment was a decoy to see if she was alone and to distract her from the surveillance monitor.

"They took the laces from my sneakers and they tied my feet and my hands like that," the victim said. "They gagged me, they put something in my mouth."

The victim gave the men the $3,500 in rent she had just collected. They also took her cell phone and surveillance equipment.

A tenant eventually found the owner bound and gagged and cut her loose.

Detectives have dusted for fingerprints as they search for the suspects.

Police said a traffic camera mounted at the intersection just outside the building caught the suspects coming and going.

"We believe that we will be able to track them down, it's just a question of time," North Bergen Deputy Police Chief Gerald Sanzari told Brown.

New Jersey State Police are also involved and working with a sketch artist to get a better description of the suspects.

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