Asian business owners terrorized during Raleigh home invasion robbery
RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) -- A Raleigh family was terrorized by three masked and gloved gunmen who forced their way into an East Raleigh home, tied the family up, and robbed them.
The victims are owners of three Chinese restaurants in Wake County.
The home invasion robbery is the latest in a rash of robberies targeting Asian business owners in the Triangle.
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Jun Wang, 22, arrived at his home in Edgewater at Rogers Farm just before 11 p.m. Monday night to the surprise of his lifetime.
He told ABC11, "My key was still in the door as I opened and they just jumped out from behind the door with like gun pointed in my face and was like, 'Don't scream' or 'Don't make any noise' or 'Do you want to die tonight?'"
Wang and his parents each run one of three Wang's Kitchen restaurants in Wake County.
ONE COSTLY MISTAKE
This type of crime is exactly why his family has an alarm system on their home.
But when his mother arrived just minutes before him, she made a mistake.
"She went in first, turned off the alarm. And then she turned back to close the door. Then they came in like three people all came in, pushed the door open and then forced a gun and then tied her up," he said.
Hours after the assault, Wang still had red marks on his wrist from the zip ties the masked and gloved gunmen used to restrain him.
He said he struggled with the robbers as he came in and one of them apparently dropped a gun just outside the front door.
Minutes later his father arrived.
"He found a gun on the floor outside the door and as he was picking up and coming in to the door they grabbed him, grabbed the hand, the gun, the hand and they forced the gun away and then start beating him because he had the gun," Wang said.
His father was later treated for minor injuries.
Wang added that the three gunmen took their time ransacking the house for cash and valuables and also stole the day's receipts from the three restaurants.
He said all three seemed young and spoke Spanish to each other.
He says the crime lasted for an agonizing 90 minutes.
"It was terrorizing. It was, it was traumatizing," Wang said.
He added that when the robbers finally left, they took his car and left it parked at the front of the neighborhood where he said he believes they had their getaway car.
And, he says, his family has learned a tough lesson he wants to pass along.
"Close the door first, lock it, and then do the alarm," he said. "But, yeah, that's the biggest lesson."
FINDING SOLUTIONS
"We should find a solution," said Ping Zhang, director of the Raleigh Chapter of the Carolinas Chinese American Civic Center. "We should find solution to solve this problem."
Following the robbery of the Wang's Kitchen family and the robbery and murder of Hong Zheng, the owner of south Durham's China Wok restaurant last month, Zhang and her group are taking action.
They've organized a special meeting Wednesday night at Durham City Hall. The mayor, city council members and state representatives are expected to attend along with Asian-American business owners to discuss solutions.
ABC11's Joel Brown contributed to this report.
