Crimefighters: $3,000 reward in Strawberry Mansion home invasion

STRAWBERRY MANSION - August 3, 2013 (WPVI) -- A woman who was attacked in her Strawberry Mansion home now hopes that a reward will bring her justice.

Friday, June 14th ended as any day for Brenda Starling.

"My daughter and my grandchildren they went to a friend's house and so I said 'I'm tired, I'm going home and going to sleep,'" said Starling.

Starling lives on the 3100 block of Gordon Street. She says at about 11:30 p.m., she heard something.

"I hear somebody knocking and someone was asking if my son was there and I'm like 'No,' so I just went back to sleep," said Starling.

However the three suspects kicked her door in and threatened her with a gun.

"They asked, 'Where is the money?' and I'm like 'What money? The guy hits me in the head, he drags me downstairs to search for money," said Starling.

All the while Starling says she's doing her best to keep them engaged with her.

"I had to continually talk to them because one of them kept saying, 'Turn your head, turn your head,' and he was trying to put the gun to my head, but I wouldn't turn my head so I kept looking at him making eye contact," said Starling.

That's when the phone rang, spooking the suspects, who fled with a laptop, a tablet and some cash.

Starling says she can't help but feel that they somehow know her son.

"I know that if he doesn't know them, they have to know him," she said.

For Starling, sleep now comes at a price.

"When I sleep at night, I get the image of this boy running down my hall with a gun threatening to shoot me," she said.

The Citizens Crime Commission is administering a $3,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

All you have to do is make an anonymous call to 215-546-TIPS (8677).

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philadelphia, strawberry mansion, crimefighters, home invasion, local/state, rick williams

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