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Victim Felt 'Powerless' When Burglar Pointed Gun At Him

By Lauren DiSpirito

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - An Aurora man says he came face to face with a suspected burglar who pointed a gun at him Wednesday.

Robert Torres, 24, had returned home from a chiropractic appointment and just walked through the front door to his townhouse on the 2200 block of South Jasper Way when he heard footsteps coming from the second floor of the home. It was just before noon, he said.

His roommate's car was not parked outside and no one else was expected inside the home at the time, according to Torres. He noticed his roommate's dog, Nitro, was barking incessantly.

Torres said a man wearing red pants descend from the top of the stairs, stopping 10 feet away from him. He says the man pulled and silver and black handgun from his waistband and pointed it at his face.

"When you're looking at him straight down through the barrel of the gun you know, right in your face, you kind of think 'How powerless are we?'" Torres said. "I couldn't even do anything."

Torres
(credit: CBS)

Torres says he put his hands up and stepped out of the man's way.

"In that situation you remember everything," he said.

"It was glistening in the sunlight," Torres added, describing the weapon.

Torres says the man had been holding his roommate's belongings. He believes the man had broken into the home through a back door and was in the process of burglarizing them. He says the suspect took off running and neighbors tell CBS4 they saw someone matching his description run by their windows and out of the community.

"I think cooperating with him really helped, had I stayed in his way or fought back, I mean all it takes is the pull of the trigger," Torres said.

Aurora police say photographs of a man wearing red pants, a red stocking cap, white tennis shoes and a black backpack walking in the neighborhood and posted to an online forum match the description Torres gave of the suspect who attacked him.

Police same the suspect stole items from a nearby townhouse earlier in the day. No one at that residence was home at the time, according to Chris Amsler, a spokesperson for Aurora police.

Amsler says the suspect is a black male, in his early 20s, with a medium athletic build and a dark complexion.

A neighbor, who asked only to be identified as Ann, says she saw six patrol vehicles and a police crime lab enter the neighborhood shortly after her son told her he'd seen a man wearing red pants run by their front door.

"There was a large police presence," she said. "It scares me, it makes me really nervous that the door was that easy to kick in -- and I know that mine is, I know it's very easy to kick in, I could do it -- so that makes me really nervous."

Torres' roommate and the home's owner, Andre Ford, rushed home upon hearing what had happened.

"I'm thankful that he's here, that everything is okay," Ford said, "count your blessings, because you never know when they could run out."

If you have any information about the incident, contact Aurora police.

Lauren DiSpirito reports for CBS4 News at 10 p.m. She covers breaking news and feature stories along Colorado's Front Range. Follow her on Twitter @CBS4Lauren. Share your story ideas with her here.

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