A man answers the front door. Three men rush in and bind his hands and ankles together with duct tape. Two of the invaders run through the house, quickly rounding up the wife, children and grandparents.

"Where’s the money?" one man demands. The leader of the pirates pistol-whips the man who unflinchingly refuses to answer.

The man and his wife are a disciplined couple. They have worked long and hard for many years to build a restaurant business. It’s a work ethic they learned growing up.

The couple’s two children do their homework at the restaurant—helping out in the kitchen when they can. This is a three generation family business.

While the pirates ransack the house looking for money, the 11-year-old boy manages to get loose and slips out a bathroom window. He runs to his father’s restaurant six blocks away and tells the employees what’s happening. A waitress calls 911.

The pirate chieftain makes a call on his cellular phone, telling his boss about the dilemma of the escaped boy and their failure to find the stash of money. The boss is certain there’s money hidden somewhere in the house.

Watching helplessly as the pirate leader sticks a pistol in his wife’s ear, the husband finally gives up the hiding place. The pirates grab the money and run.

How much money did the pirates get? After hours of questioning, police think the invaders "got something in the neighborhood of $30,000—possibly more." Detectives also believe the "boss" on the other end of the cell phone call knows the family personally.

Does this sort of crime happen often? "Most of these cases are never reported," a detective says. Investigators doubt seriously that they’ll ever know the full impact of what’s happening to these people.

Footnote: Most of the victims of home invasions are Asian or Hispanic. The invaders themselves are usually of the same race. The invaders understand that many of their victims do not trust authorities because of past homeland experiences.