The Associated Press
GRABILL, Ind. (AP) - Authorities are urging northeastern Indiana Amish to report crimes to police after two young gunmen held up a pair of horse-drawn buggies.
Detectives believe other robberies targeting the Amish have gone unreported, Allen County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Victor Hopkins said.
Police said an Amish man was riding with two family members near Grabill, about 12 miles northeast of Fort Wayne, when a car stopped on the side of the road shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday.
When the buggy pulled up alongside the car, two masked teen-age boys armed with a handgun and a shotgun ordered him to stop. The man told his passengers to get down and quickly rode away, police said. He said he heard a gunshot a short time later.
About 90 minutes later and one mile away, police said two teens in a car forced another buggy into a ditch. The boys, who were armed and masked, then took the man’s wallet.
One of the boys asked the victim whether his horse was all right and allowed him to pull the horse and buggy from the ditch.
Investigators believe the same people are responsible for both the robbery and attempted robbery, Hopkins said. Police believe part of the reason Amish are being targeted is because they frequently travel on rural roads.
It has been difficult for detectives to contact the victims for additional information because the men work long hours and do not have telephones.