NORTHRIDGE : Fake Pollsters Rob Woman at Home

Two young men who posed as Election Day pollsters so they could rob a woman targeted her because they knew she had a valuable diamond ring, police said Wednesday.

Janet Huerta, 46, of Northridge was uninjured during the 11:30 a.m. armed robbery at her home Tuesday, but the men escaped with $400 in cash, a wedding ring valued at $11,000 and other jewelry, said Los Angeles Police Detective Wayne Newton.

Newton said the two men knocked on Huerta’s door in the 9400 block of Balcom Avenue and said they were students doing a political poll. After Huerta opened the door, one of the men said his pen had run out of ink. When she turned to get another pen, they forced their way into the house, Newton said. The men then forced Huerta down on the floor and tied her hands and ankles before ransacking the house, Newton said.

“They asked her specifically about the diamond wedding ring, which leads us to believe they saw her wearing it, or that they had been around the family or were associated with someone in the family,” Newton said.

Newton said police had no suspects. He described the two men as white males of medium height and build and about 20 years old. One suspect had a shaved head with a ponytail in back, he said.