4 robbers invade Sandy house

SANDY — Four men wearing ski masks broke into a home here Sunday night, tied up a woman and allegedly took tens of thousands of dollars in cash as well as a cache of weapons, according to police.

Just after 9:30 p.m., four armed men forced their way into a house near 200 East and 10600 South. They went into a bedroom where they found a woman in bed, said Sandy Police Sgt. Justin Chapman.

"They awakened the adult female and asked for money and guns," he said.

They took the woman to the living room where they forced her to show them where the safe was, then tied her up with a rope, Chapman said.

There were children in the house who slept through the entire incident, Chapman said, although he did not know Monday how many or how old they were.

The robbers left the house with an estimated 49 handguns and an unknown number of rifles, he said. A man who also lives in the home but was working at a Christmas tree lot near 9000 South and State Street at the time later told detectives there was an estimated $50,000 to $80,000 missing from his safe, according to police.

But homeowner Mike Shadle later told KSL-TV that there was not that much money in his safe. He also said the guns that were stolen had been in his family for generations and were worth a lot of money.

After the men left the house, the woman was able to free herself and call police. Investigators followed a fresh set of footprints in the snow through a few backyards and over some fences, but lost the trail at the next main road where the men appeared to have gotten into a vehicle, Chapman said.

Because the men seemed to know what they were looking for, Chapman said detectives believed the home was targeted.

"It certainly wouldn't appear to be random if they're asking for cash and guns and find both in high quantities," he said.

Shadle said he thought he might know the robbers.

"They said some things about other relatives. They knew I was running a tree lot," he said.

Shadle is offering $10,000 for information leading to the arrests and convictions of the robbers, even if the person who steps forward is one of the robbers who wants to turn in his accomplices.

Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call police at 840-4000.

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com