WASHINGTON — What Joseph Abraha heard as he was in the basement of a Burke, Virginia, home turned out to be masked home invaders attacking his dad, Yacob Abraha, with a machete early Friday.
It was the second of two home invasions in the quiet neighborhood early Friday that involved attacks with machetes by four masked men dressed in black. This attack happened at around 2 a.m. at a residence in the 6300 block of Fenestra Court.
“I went upstairs to hear what the rumbling was, and then I see my father stepping out the front door,” Abraha told WTOP. “I walked over to the front door, ran down the front stairs, and then I saw my father at the bottom of the hill.
“He screamed at me, ‘Call the police! Call the police!’ I went back into the house, called 911 and by that time the car was just fleeing the neighborhood. My dad came back, and he was really injured.”
Yacob Abraha, 62, was able to fight off the masked attackers, who forced their way through the front door and attacked him with a machete. He had to have an emergency surgery after being stabbed. His injuries were not life-threatening.
Shortly before the masked men attacked Yacob Abraha, they had broken into a home on the 6300 block of Birch Leaf Court.
Yan Delacy, 28, said he was watching TV when they broke the sliding glass door of his home and attacked him with a machete. Police say the attackers also stole property.
“It was basically a home invasion,” Delacy told WTOP. “They just ran up in my house and kicked my ass.
“I got stabbed; I got punched; I got hit in the face with a rifle butt.”
Delacy said he was treated at the hospital.
Police said they think the two home invasions are related, and that the victims — who knew each other — were targeted.
“Detectives do not believe that there is a greater threat to public safety,” police said in a news release Friday.
Initially, police said the Fenestra Court attack occurred prior to the one on Birch Leaf — the first call they received was about the Fenestra Court attack. But police have since changed the timeline of the events.
They are looking for information from the public and have asked anyone with information to call 703-246-7800 or Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS.
All four of the suspects are believed to be in their 20s. They ran from the Fenestra Court scene to a waiting vehicle. Three are described as Hispanic, around 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds. The fourth suspect is described as a 6-foot tall light-skinned black man weighing about 200 pounds.
Meanwhile, the crimes have startled neighbors, many of whom watched the events play out in the news.
“I’m like, ‘Well God, that’s right down the street!’” Brenda Morris said. “It’s really weird to see your neighborhood on TV for a crime. So, what — is it time to move?”
She said her husband has been talking about getting a security system.
“It’s usually very quiet here,” Morris said. “I’ve lived here for almost 30 years, and this is the first time something like this has ever happened. I’m surprised, but times are changing, things are different.”
Neighbor Daniel Schmidt said he awoke to text messages asking him whether he was OK.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before in our neighborhood,” Schmidt said. “It’s kind of strange and surreal. I know both houses were kind of the partyer people. Maybe it’s just people getting into problems.”
WTOP’s Letese’ Clark contributed to this report.
