House-sitters use doorbell cam to call for help as they’re zip-tied and held in LA robbery
Home owner says she’s ‘too frantic’ to speak about crime after house-sitters awake with guns aimed at them
House-sitters in a $5m Los Angeles mansion used the doorbell cam to call for help after they were zip-tied and held at gunpoint during a robbery in Sherman Oaks.
The robbery took place at around 2am on Thursday morning at the home of influencer Florence Mirsky, 40, the co-founder of confectionery company Koko Nuggz.
While not being at the property when the robbery occurred, she told The Sun that she was “too frantic” to speak about what had happened. Police were told that a housekeeper and her friend were woken up by the three robbers.
The house-sitters told law enforcement that they awoke to three masked men aiming firearms, including a handgun and a rifle, at them.
Ms Mirksy dated music producer Scott Storch between 2015 and 2018. Mr Storch has previously worked with artists such as Drake, Justin Timberlake, and Beyoncé.
Records reveal that the producer owned the home at one point as he collected more than $70m during the peak of his career, but he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Florida in 2015, DailyMail.com reported.
The Los Angeles Police Department has said that the home sitters’ phones were taken by the robbers, prompting the victims to use the doorbell to alert Ms Mirsky.
Investigators saw no signs of forced entry when inspecting the home, and think the burglars picked a lock to get inside. Law enforcement also said the robbers taped over security cameras in the residence.
The two victims said they waited for quite some time after the burglars left the property before attempting to notify the authorities.
When the house-sitters rang the video doorbell, it sent a notification to Ms Mirsky’s phone. She contacted the police at around 3am – about an hour after the home invasion. When officers arrived at the home, the house-sitters still had their hands bound by the zip-ties.
No arrests have been made so far and there’s no description of the appearances of the suspects.
While no major injuries have been reported, one of the house-sitters was treated for chest pains.
Wealthy residents in the San Fernando Valley have recently become targets amid a rise in crime in the LA region.
Actor Terrence Jenkins managed to escape from an attempted robbery as four armed men tried to take the car he was in back in November.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Dorit Kemsley was the target of an Encino, California home invasion in October as her children slept on the upper floor.
Compared to 2019, homicides in the city rose by 52 per cent in 2021, and the number of shootings rose by 59 per cent, according to statistics from the LAPD. The number of robberies, both targeted at homes and businesses, rose by 41.6 per cent last year.