La Habra : Woman Beaten, Robbed in Apartment by 2 Men

A woman was surprised in her bedroom Thursday morning by two robbers who beat and bound her while they ransacked her apartment, authorities said.

Maria Arteaga, 33, told officers she heard a knock at 9:30 a.m. on the bedroom door of her unlocked apartment in the 900 block of North Euclid Street, according to Lt. Terry Rammell. Thinking it was family, she said she told the two men to enter.

One put a knife to her throat and told her not to say anything or they would kill her, Rammell said. The other man slapped her until his partner told him to stop.

They tied her hands and feet, placed a blanket in her mouth and over her head while they searched the apartment, Rammell said. After 15 minutes, they left with her purse, $25 in cash and a stereo and watch, together worth about $300, he said.

Arteaga said she freed herself and called police from a neighbor’s apartment. Though bruised, Arteaga did not require medical attention, Rammell said. Arteaga described the suspects as being in their mid 20s, one 5-foot-8 and 145 pounds, the other 5-foot-4 and weighing 100 pounds.