Woman, Child Held inside Bronx Home by Fake Con Ed Workers; Mom Sexually Assaulted, Robbed: NYPD

A young mother and her child were imprisoned in their Bronx home by two men who posed as utility workers to break in and sexually assault and rob the woman, police say. 

Police said two men claiming to be Con Edison workers knocked on the 26-year-old woman's door, then pushed their way into her Magenta Avenue apartment in Gun Hill Monday. One tied her to the coffee table and the other grabbed a knife from the kitchen.

One of the men sexually assaulted her while her young daughter was in the home, police said. 

A next-door neighbor who asked to remain anonymous said she heard the woman scream and cry a few times at about 10 a.m. and then heard it on and off for a few hours. The neighbor said she had no idea what was happening until she walked out of her apartment and heard the woman's pleading for help in a whisper. 

"I said, 'I'm here, mami, come to the door, open,'" said the neighbor. "And she was like, 'That's the problem, I can't. I'm bound, I was tied up.'"

She added, "I'm a mom with children as well and it's just terrifying." 

Police said the men left with cash but couldn't immediately say how long the victim was tied up. 

The woman was later seen walking to a waiting ambulance in tears.

Authorities warn that there have been past instances of people claiming to be utility workers to get into homes. They say residents should first ask for IDs through the door, and if they still feel uneasy, to call the utility company.

Police officers were standing guard in front of the apartment Monday night. Authorities are still searching for the suspects.

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