HOPEWELL, Va. (WTVR) - Police are looking for two suspects who handcuffed and robbed a man, who managed to get away, early Tuesday morning at a Hopewell apartment complex.
Tim Tyler told CBS 6 News senior reporter Wayne Covil that he had just pulled up in his SUV after running out to get a sandwich for a friend, when two masked men approached him at the Autumn Woods Apartments.
"I got out of the truck, turned around to lock the truck [and] they were right on me," said Tyler.
He said one of the men put a gun to his back, told him not to move and be quiet. And that's when the pair handcuffed Tyler and started searching his pockets.
"Evidently they were looking for money, and they said, 'It's got to be in the house.' So he headed towards my house," said Tyler.
While of the men headed toward Tyler's door, where his girlfriend and four children were asleep, the other suspect stood next to him.
Amazingly, Tyler managed to escape.
"The whole time I'm standing here, I'm wiggling it and I feel my right side, I felt it -- and heard it click -- like it was opening," said Tyler, who was able to free one hand from the cuffs.
Tyler took off running, as did the two suspects. A short time later, he made it to his apartment and dialed 911.
One of the first officers on the scene was able to remove the other handcuff.
Tiffani Popeck, who lives nearby, was talking with Tyler shortly before he left for the sandwich.
"He's lucky, I guess," she said. "All they took was money, they could have took him."
Police said the suspects were both about six-foot-one, were wearing all black and had on masks.
If you have any information about the robbery, call Crime Solvers at 804-541-2202.
