[ UPDATE 5:17 p.m.] Home Invasion in Eureka Foiled by Alert Neighbors

A trio of bold robbers invaded a home on Henderson Street in Eureka about 7 p.m. last night frightening the family that was preparing for the holidays.

According to one of the victims, Ken Misener, who was visiting the home of a man he calls his stepfather, “We were in the festive mood…We were decorating my stepfather’s house. I was doing the three Christmas trees in the family room. I had just got up on the ladder to put some ornaments on the tree when I heard a big crash. I thought someone had hit my car.

But then, Misener heard a second crash and rushed into the kitchen. Three men had kicked down the front door. “A guy standing in the hallway by the kitchen with a gun…He said, ‘Get down on the floor! Put your hands behind your back.'”

Misener said all he could take in was that the man was masked and had a gun.

Misener yelled to the other two occupants, “They’ve got guns. Call the cops.” Then he complied with what the man with the gun was telling him to do. “[The gun] was just inches away from my forehead,” he said. “He was trying to put a ziptie on me when another guy…ran by and held my stepbrother at gunpoint.”

His stepbrother was also made to get down on the floor. Meanwhile, the family’s five dogs–four chihuahua’s and a pit bull mix–that Misener described as “a rescue puppy we found along the road dying of distemper”–were racing around barking.

Misener’s elderly stepfather was still seated and Misener and his stepbrother were on the floor when he said he heard something that he later learned was his neighbor yelling that he was calling the police.

A third robber then yelled, “The cops are coming!”

According to Misener, “They bolted out of that house so quick.”

Misener was able to get up, swiftly look to see his family was okay and then rush out the side door in time to see some people jumping into a car on G Street and rushing away. “They took off like a bat out of hell,” he told us. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to see the make of the vehicle as it was too dark at the time.

“The police were there in four minutes tops,” Misener said. But the suspects had already fled.

“The door frame is just shattered,” he told us. “They kicked it in. Their footprints are still on the door…The two gentleman that I did see were wearing a mask.  There was three total –one standing at the door as a lookout…Things happen so fast…They were in the house in and out in a minute and a half. ”

According to scanner traffic, the three men may have all had .45’s.

“Thank god the neighbor heard it,” Misener said. “No one was hurt…In my 59 years of life, I’ve gone through a lot of crap, but I’ve never had this happen.

Misener said he’s very shaken and had to take the day off work. He added that he is concerned this might not be the only attempted home invasion, “This is the holiday season and I’m scared for other families.”

UPDATE 5:17 p.m.: Brittany Powell, spokesperson for the Eureka Police Department tells us,

On December 4, 2022, at about 7 p.m.,  officers with the Eureka Police Department responded to a residence on the 2700 block of G Street for the report of a possible home invasion robbery.  A witness reported seeing three unknown males kick in a front door and force entry.

Based on the investigation, three unknown suspects briefly held three occupants of the residence at gunpoint until a neighbor was heard threatening to phone police.  All three suspects quickly fled.  Suspects are described as white males wearing dark clothing and masks.

This is active investigation and anyone with information or nearby surveillance is asked to contact the Eureka Police Department at (707) 441-4044.