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Mother, Children Tied Up During McDonald Home Invasion

MCDONALD (KDKA) -- A woman and her four young children were tied up during a home invasion in Washington County.

Three men with ski masks barged into their apartment on Cherry Street in McDonald at about midnight Wednesday. The intruders were described as three black males.

Nikki Johnson, 36, was watching TV with her four young children – ages 11, 10 and 7, -- when the men kicked their way through the front door.

"Extremely frightening," she said. "It's your worst fear that your kids are there and there's nothing you can do to help them."

Their wrists were bound with extension cords and put duct tape on the children's mouths.

The men were on a mission.

"Was holding guns to their heads and threatening them and stuff and asking her questions about who lived here, whose vehicles was what, who lived in what apartments ," Nathan Hoff, a neighbor, said.

The men tried to get into another apartment by grabbing the 7-year-old and telling him to ask the neighbor for toilet paper so they could get in, but somebody called police.

The men took off.

"I think the individuals involved are familiar with some of the people here," McDonald Police Chief Mark Dorsey said. "They stole about $40 and ransacked the apartment."

Johnson moved in with a cousin temporarily.

The police chief said there have been minor disturbances at that apartment building before, but nothing this serious.

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