Another Hispanic home invasion/robbery - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Another Hispanic home invasion/robbery

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May 31, 2006

Colquitt County -- It's a frightening story that investigators know all too well. There's been another home invasion/robbery in Colquitt County.  

Tuesday night, three Hispanic men were robbed at gunpoint by three black men.   Sheriff Al Whittington says a similar crime took place at the same mobile home park just a few months ago.  

Whittington says the motive is simple: cash. The targets are almost always the same, Hispanic farm workers who don't have bank accounts, or don't use them. The suspects know that and that's why they move in.

Around 11 O'clock Tuesday night, three Hispanic men in the mobile home were robbed at gunpoint. They say the three assailants were black and all had guns. "Had three black males approach them, all three being armed. Basically, one of the guys told them to 'give me your money or we'll kill you,'" Whittington said.

They gave up the money-- about $350 in cash. Cash that Sheriff Al Whittington says they shouldn't have had so handy. "We're going to patrol and do all we can to help protect them, but we need them to help protect themselves."

And he says they can do that by getting a bank account. Isbed Ariciaga, who lives nearby agrees. "I don't think that's smart, a lot of cash, because you never know when somebody can get in your house and rob you and take all your money."

But it seems that the message isn't getting across. Knight's mobile home park, located on Circle Road, is no stranger to strangers. This isn't the first time tenants at this mobile home park have been victimized. In February, eight men were robbed at this trailer just a few yards away. Two of them were shot. They too, describe their assailants as three black men, who haven't been caught.

But investigators hope for a different outcome this time, and so does Isbed. She's worried that it could happen at her house "A little bit, yeah, cause it's going to be scary for somebody to get into your house trying to rob you."

The Hispanic community has been terrorized by home invasions over the past several years. In September, six people were killed during a string of invasions in Tift and Colquitt Counties.

Anyone with information please contact either Investigator Shannon Hart with the Colquitt County Sheriff's Office at (229)616-7430 or Investigator Jamy Steinberg with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at (229)225-4090.

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