Man holds elderly neighbors hostage while demanding $50K

By Jennifer Cruz

Louis and Irene Rosen thought nothing of it when their neighbor came over to borrow a cup of salt, but then he pulled a gun on them. (Photo: ABC)
A Florida man is behind bars after he attempted to rob his elderly neighbors at gunpoint Friday in their Tamarac home.
Louis Rosen, 99, and his 70-year-old wife, Irene, said the incident started when their neighbor’s son, 45-year-old Leonard Benitez, came to the door and asked to borrow a cup of salt.
“When your next-door neighbor asks to borrow salt, it makes perfect sense,” Irene told the Sun-Sentinel. “We had a nice conversation.”
Then, out of nowhere, Benitez pulled a handgun and a knife and demanded the couple’s bank account information so he could collect $50,000.
Irene said she was “scared to death,” while Louis said he was worried about his wife, but their worries intensified when the encounter turned physical and Benitez struck Louis in the head with his handgun.
Benitez held the couple hostage in their own home for about two hours before Irene was finally able to get free and call 911. Irene told a local ABC affiliate that the only time she truly became frantic was after she had escaped and left

Source: Guns.com