A Queens mom and her terrified 6-year-old daughter watched in horror as a crew of masked crooks held them and their nanny captive in their home after forcing their way in, binding them with duct tape and swiping more than $1 million in high-priced designer handbags, clothing and jewelry, police said Wednesday.
“I was home with my nanny and my three kids,” the woman said days after the home invasion in Kew Gardens. “Luckily, my two sons were sleeping through it. They’re smaller. But my daughter was here and witnessed the whole thing. And it’s just terrifying. She’s 6. Just turned 6.”
She said her nanny had just taken out the trash and the thieves followed her back inside.
“They came in with her,” the mother said. “They pushed her in, and I heard her scream very loudly, so I came out of my room and I saw them already halfway up the stairs.
“My daughter came out of her room. So my first reaction was to run to her. So as I’m running to her, they all start running to her.”
The 53-year-old nanny told police she had just taken out the trash outside the Kew Gardens home on Mayfair Rd. near 116th St. around 7:30 p.m. on March 19 when she noticed a white 2021 Toyota RAV4 parked across the street. A moment later, five masked men stormed out of the SUV and chased her back into the home, shoving her to the ground.
Police released surveillance footage of two of the crooks, as well as their getaway vehicle, in the hopes someone recognizes them.
Cops said the crooks used duct tape to bind the nanny and the 36-year-old homeowner, who lives in the home with her three children and husband, who was out of town. The thieves then scoured the house for pricey clothes, art, jewelry, handbags and other accessories.
The mother, who did not want to be identified, said the crooks put her in a closet, where she could hear her daughter screaming.
“I don’t know what had caused her to scream,” she said. “So I banged on the closet for them to let me out, and they let me out and let me stay with her the entire time in her room.”
She said it would be almost impossible to identify the thieves.
“They were all masked and where they had me was in a dark room,” she said, “so it was very hard for me to even try to distinguish any features.”
They also didn’t say much.
“Just ‘Where’s the cash? Where’s the cash? We need the cash. We need the cash. Where’s the cash?’ They were here 45 minutes. It’s a very long time.
“They found our luggage,” she said. “They were packing all of my stuff in the luggage. They left with our suitcases filled with all our valuables. They were putting out paintings on the sidewalk. Like, they were just taking their sweet time.”
From her bedroom, she saw the thieves leave, so she rushed downstairs, where she and the nanny freed each other, she said.
“We locked the door and they actually came back again,” the woman said. “We closed the door in time.”
Items taken included eight high-end Hermes Birkin handbags valued at a total of $310,000, a Louis Vuitton purse, a diamond ring and a tennis bracelet, cops said. Hermes designer shoes and a Louis Vuitton suitcase were also stolen.
But it was her stolen wedding ring that the woman valued the most, she said.
The mother said her little girl was traumatized.
“She was fine the first few days, and now she’s at nighttime, she’s starting to, like, get a little I don’t know, scared,” she said. “She wants somebody to sleep with her. So I don’t know if it’ll progress into something more.”
As for herself, she said she’s not doing much better.
“It’s horrible,” she said. “Like, I’m scared to come out. Every time I come out, I have to look every single way and to come back into the house, and I just feel very violated. And no peace in my house, where you’re supposed to feel like the most peace.”
Her husband, who works in real estate development, said he was worried, too.
“It’s terrifying,” he said. “In a neighborhood where it’s all families, broad daylight for 45 minutes to be in a house.”
The crooks were caught on surveillance camera exiting the home. They loaded up the white Toyota RAV4, driven by a sixth accomplice, before driving off.
Neither woman was hurt, and no weapons were shown, cops said.
The couple estimated the crooks made off with $1,105,000 in loot.
The homeowner said a neighbor later told her she saw the crew, in their masks, on a park bench near the house about a half hour before the home invasion. She said the suspicious neighbor thought about calling police, “but she just let it go.”
“I thought it was a safe neighborhood,” she said. “There’s so many people here that walk their dogs. There’s a park. It’s a very friendly and busy. It’s Kew Gardens.
“Luckily, we weren’t harmed. And [we’re] just trying to feel comfortable again. Find some peace of mind.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
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