Authorities are searching for a man who they say broke into a home, attacked a resident and tied up another before setting the house on fire.
Firefighters extinguished the flames and found the residents inside the home on Crestmont Terrace in Collingswood on Sunday afternoon. Investigators say the man beat one of the residents and tied up the other while demanding money. Authorities did not release information about the extent of the victims' injuries.
"It is troubling. Just know that officers are out in the area. We have an increased presence of uniformed personnel. In addition to that, detectives from the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office and detectives from the Collingswood Police Department are going door to door trying to make contact with residents to see if they have any surveillance that may have captured anything related to the incident,” says Collingswood Police Chief Kevin Carey.
Police say that the suspect is described as a thin man with a short beard who was wearing a yellow winter hat and a yellow and black zip-up sweatshirt.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Camden County Prosecutor's Office Detective Mike Batista at 856-676-8175 or Collingswood Police Sgt. William Lyons at 609-868-0266.
The Associated Press wire services contributed to this report.