Philly man tied up, assaulted during a home invasion; attackers posed as PGW workers

Two men, at least one wearing a PGW hard hat, according to police, told a Philadelphia homeowner Saturday afternoon they were checking on a gas leak in the area and needed to see his basement.

Once inside the home in the 4500 block of Higbee Street in the city's Wissinoming section, both men went to the basement. Shortly after, one of them came upstairs and asked the homeowner to join them so they could show him something.

According to police, when the homeowner, 52, got downstairs, one of the intruders was holding a black semiautomatic handgun. Both then bound his hands behind his back with zip ties and demanded money. Police said the one with the gun struck him on the head with it; the homeowner was also kicked in the head.

When the homeowner's fiancée, 41, came home nearly a half hour after the intruders were let in, one of the men grabbed her as she opened the front door, police said. She slipped out of her coat, police said, and ran screaming, after which the intruders fled, possibly driving off in a blue Infiniti sedan with tinted windows. Jewelry and several thousand dollars in cash were taken, police said.

While processing the scene, police found two PGW hard hats, a black knit hat, a yellow combustible gas detector, a clipboard with blank sheets of paper, and numerous zip ties. A police spokesperson said the men were posing as PGW workers, not actual employees.

The suspects were described as Hispanic males, ages 25 to 35, each 5-foot-9 with medium builds, dressed in navy blue uniforms.