Va. police: Family of 4, friend kidnapped, robbed

HERNDON, Va. – Police are investigating a report that a family of four and a friend were kidnapped from the family's suburban Washington, D.C. apartment, robbed and left in a remote area.

Fairfax County police said a masked man on Thursday night entered a Herndon apartment through an unlocked door, implied he had a gun, and ordered a woman, her teenage son and a toddler into a back room. Police say the man tied up the teen, and then cut the family friend with a sharp object after he entered and didn't immediately comply with an order to get on the ground.

When the father entered, he too was assaulted, police said in a news release.

Authorities said the man then ordered everyone into the family sedan and demanded they drive to an ATM machine where he withdrew money. He ordered the father into the trunk and made the family friend drive to a secluded business park where all but the father were freed. Family members ran away and flagged down a passer-by who called police, and the father escaped from the trunk when he realized the man had fled.

"The family was terrified, and this appears to be random," Fairfax County police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell told The Washington Post.

Police believe robbery was the motive and are searching for the suspect.