(Nov. 19) -- Armed intruders forced their way into a Florida home and held a family of three hostage for nearly three days before the mother was able to jump from a second-story window and run for help, local media reported.
Marcela Borges, 27, was shot in the back as she escaped but is expected to recover, the Orlando Sentinel said.
Borges, Rubens Morais and their 5-year-old son, Ryan, were home Sunday morning when someone knocked on the door of their Winter Garden home, the Sentinel said. When they opened the door, three men and one woman pushed their way in.
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Police told the Sentinel and MyFoxOrlando.com that the intruders, who were armed with guns, blindfolded the three family members and drove them in their own SUV to a house in Apopka, where they were held for the night. The next day they were taken back home, still blindfolded and bound with duct tape.
The intruders then forced Borges to drive to a bank in Ocoee, where she was made to withdraw $23,600.
At one point, Borges pulled off her blindfold and grabbed the mask from the face of the female intruder, police said. The woman screamed, “She saw my face and knows who I am! You have to kill her!”
Shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, Borges was able to free herself and jumped from a second-floor window. One of the intruders opened fire. Police said a bullet struck Borges in the lower left side of her back, then went through her body and hit her wrist, but she kept running.
Borges was recuperating at Orlando Regional Medical Center, the Sentinel said. Morais, 48, was hit on the head with a blunt object at some point during the ordeal, but he was not seriously hurt. Ryan was not harmed.
Police arrested Oscar Diaz Hernandez, 19, of Orlando, and cousins Miguel Diaz Santiz, 25, and Victor Manuel Sanchez, 20, both of Apopka, the paper said. Authorities were searching for the female suspect.
The Sentinel said police believe the home invaders targeted the family for a specific reason, but did not elaborate. "It appears to us that this is not a random act," Winter Garden police Lt. Keith Ralston told the paper.
