Armed Robbers Hold Family Captive in Chevy Chase Home

Armed robbers invaded a home in a quiet Chevy Chase neighborhood last night and held a couple and their two young children captive before the thieves fled, Montgomery County police said. No one was seriously injured.

The father, who was bound at the wrists, ran out of the house about 9:45 p.m. and asked neighbors to call for help, police said. At least 24 police cars responded to the incident, in the 3700 block of Underwood Street, just east of Connecticut Avenue.

The three robbers forced their way into the home through the front and back doors and bound the husband and wife, both in their 30s, said Capt. Nancy Demme of the major crimes division. The two children, ages 2 and 6 months, were not bound.

The family was being examined early this morning at a local hospital, Demme said. She said the husband suffered minor injuries from being bound at the wrists.

She said it was not immediately clear when the men invaded the house and what items of value were taken. Investigators were interviewing the husband and wife at the hospital early today. The family was not identified last night.

Police responded in force out of concern that the armed men were still inside the house. But Demme said police searched the house and discovered the robbers had fled. She said home invasions in the area are rare.

In December 2004, three armed robbers broke into an occupied Chevy Chase home in the 6400 block of Kennedy Drive. No one was injured. In the past two years, home invasions have been reported in other areas of Montgomery County, including Silver Spring, Rockville and North Potomac.