CASE CLOSED

3 sought in Green Hills home invasion
Teen thought at first it was prank

By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF
Staff Writer


Natalie Crafton thought it was some kind of prank when three men in hooded sweatshirts forced their way into her family's Green Hills home before dawn Friday and ordered some of her friends to the floor at gunpoint.

"I said, 'Do I know you? If so, it's the dumbest thing I've ever had to deal with — quit screwing with me,' " recalled Crafton, 18.




But the look on one of the gunmen's faces convinced her they were serious.

"He gave me the look of death," Crafton said.

The intruders were there to rob Crafton and six of her friends who were hanging out at her family's home on Sugar Tree Road, located a few blocks west of The Mall at Green Hills, according to Metro police.

Mother says it's scary

Crafton's mother, Nanette, was out of town but agreed to allow her daughter to host a group of friends, all recent graduates of Hillsboro High School.

"It's scary to think we're that vulnerable," Nanette Crawford said Friday. "The (kids) weren't being loud. They weren't drinking and drunk. It wasn't an out-of-control party. They were just a group of kids. It's so unfair."

As of Friday afternoon, police had no leads into the 1:15 a.m. home-invasion robbery but believe the suspects targeted the home and the gathering of teenagers.

Police were searching for a black, two-door Pontiac Grand Prix. Police said there is no indication that any of the victims knew the attackers and no reason to believe the teens were breaking any laws.

In fact, the friends were about to watch the movie Mean Girls, when the robbers broke in, Crafton said.

The men stole Crafton's purse, containing $400 she'd received as graduation gifts. They also took everyone's wallets and cell phones.

"They took Mean Girls, too," Crafton said. "It was inside my purse."