Police Look For Polite, Masked Intruders

Police are on the lookout for a pair of polite gunmen with British or Australian accents who have been robbing homeowners in moneyed neighborhoods of suburban Montgomery County, Md.

The masked duo has struck seven times since Jan. 25, usually entering the homes through the garage or unlocked doors.

The intruders are unfailingly polite and so far no one has been hurt.

“We’ve been lucky so far that there’ve been no confrontations, but there is the potential for a real tragedy to occur,” said a Montgomery County police spokesman, Cpl. George Ludington.

“The robbers are calm, perhaps so as not to make their victims nervous or hysterical, and all they ask for is cash,” said Ludington.

A homeowner in Potomac, Md., was robbed last week after letting his dogs outside at about 5:30 a.m. and leaving a sliding glass door unlocked. Instead of the dogs coming back in, the homeowner was confronted by one of the robbers, who pointed a gun at his head.

The gunman “was quite polite throughout the whole episode,” the homeowner, who asked not to be identified, told The Washington Post.

“We got into a conversation as if he was a buddy,” the homeowner said. “By the time he left, I put my arm on his shoulder and said, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t have more money.”’