LEANDER, Texas -- Lake Line Ranch looks like most neighborhoods. It's a quiet place with tire swings in the yard and basketball goals in the drive way.
If you take a second look, there is a sign advertising concealed handgun licenses, flyers for security systems hanging on the doors, and a police officer patrolling the streets. On Elkhorn Ranch Road, Williamson County Sheriff's detectives and Leander police are talking to neighbors and searching a nearby field for evidence, all because of what happened to two homes on that street.
On Dec. 21, a woman says there was a knock on her door. When her son answered, two men forced themselves into her home. She says they bound her and her three children with duct tape, attacked her with a stun gun, and burglarized her home.
Seven weeks later, Tuesday, Feb. 7, the same thing happened at a home a few houses down.
"A family being basically bound and restrained inside their home and the home being burglarized," described home owner Michael Malone.
He lives a few streets away. Malone says the attacks put the neighborhood on alert.
"Definitely arming myself more," exclaimed home owner Adriana, who didn't want to give her last name.
She lives on the street where the attacks happened. Adriana says the increased police presence brings her some comfort.
"I just had somebody stop and talk to me and ask me some questions, and I answered them the best I could, and I just think that's just great," she said.
The people in Lake Line Ranch aren't just solely relying on police for their safety. They're taking matters into their own hands, making flyers and posting them up so that their neighbors know what's happening in their neighborhood.
"It's the right thing to do,” said Malone. He created the flyer.
“Sometimes you gotta stand up for what's right," he said.
Adriana is making sure her children know what’s right. She's now giving them safety lessons.
"I'm just trying to teach my kids to always look up, around them when they leave the house. To look around them before they leave out of the car, and it's sad that you have to teach your young kids something like that," Adriana said.
Adriana and her neighbors are in the early stages of developing a neighborhood watch. They're doing what they can to revert their neighborhood back into a peaceful place.
Leander police are asking for the public's help to catch the home invaders. Back in December, they released sketches of the men involved in that home invasion. Victims say they're in their late teens or early 20s.
The men in Tuesday's home invasion are both described as white males. One stands 5’10” to 6’ tall with the word “LOVE” tattooed across his right knuckles. The other man stands 6’ to 6’ 2” tall. He was wearing a black ski mask, dark colored shirt, and Dickies style pants.
Police have not said whether two men are responsible for both home invasions.
