Police seek robbery suspect who threatened woman with knife

Police are looking for a man who robbed a home at knifepoint and stole a vehicle to get away early Monday morning, according to Texarkana, Texas, Police Department.

The man wore a black bandana over his face and forced the homeowner's niece to load backpacks with valuables and give him car keys, according to Shawn Vaughn, TTPD spokesman.

Police believe he may be responsible for stealing items from storage buildings and vehicles along nearby Valley Road, Vaughn said.

Officers were dispatched at 4:11 a.m. Monday to a report of a burglary at the home on Woodcliff Drive. The homeowner told officers that his niece, who had been asleep on the sofa, was awakened by an man with a black bandana tied around his face.

The man threatened her with a knife, led her through the ground floor of the home and forced her to load several valuables into backpacks, Vaughn said.

"He then made her retrieve the keys to the victim's white 2008 Dodge Caliber that was parked in the driveway. The suspect left in the stolen vehicle and was last seen headed toward Valley Road," according to Vaughn.

The woman ran back inside and alerted the homeowner.

The suspect is described as having hazel eyes and being about 25 years old, 5 feet, 6 inches tall with a slender build and a stud earring in each ear. He was wearing an oversized black jersey and light blue jeans and had several tattoos on his right arm, according to police.

The stolen Dodge Caliber, which has not been recovered, has damage to the right front bumper and had Texas license plate GZP8595 on it when taken, Vaughn said.

Police received reports later Monday morning from several homeowners on Valley Road that outside storage buildings and vehicles had been entered and items taken from them.

"Some of those items were discovered abandoned beside the road. ... It appears that these burglaries may be related to the robbery on Woodcliff Drive," Vaughn said.

Anyone with information on these crimes is asked to call TTPD at 903-798-3116 or Texarkana Area Crime Stoppers at 903-793-STOP.

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