Jul 10, 2007 5:46 pm US/Central
Police Search For Robbers That Hit NBA Star's Home
Miami Heat's Antoine Walker Was Robbed In His House Monday Night
CBS 2's Rafael Romo, Katie McCall and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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The NBA star's Chicago home was burglarized Monday night.
CBS
The men behind the armed robbery of NBA star Antoine Walker apparently targeted him. Police suspect the break-in at the Miami Heat player's Chicago home was not a random act.
Miami Heat forward Antoine Walker is not hurt, but his representatives said Tuesday evening he is too shaken up to talk to reporters.
As CBS 2's Katie McCall reports, the 30-year-old NBA star survived a home invasion inside his River North home Monday night.
Some of Walker's associates were moving cars into his garage Tuesday, one wearing a bag on his head, possibly acting as a decoy.
CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports neighbors say it might have been an inside job.
Police say the robbers were wearing masks when they came to the Chicago native's home in the 400 block of West Huron Street in the River North neighborhood Monday evening.
Detectives said the robbers took cash, jewelry and a luxury car, but did not harm Walker or two other people, apparently his employees, who were with him at the time.
The car was recovered later Tuesday, police said. Grand Central District police found the stolen Mercedes Benz near Potomac and Karlov avenues about 9 a.m., according to News Affairs Officer John Henry.
A neighbor who lives just a few doors down from Walker says it does not appear the home invasion was a random act.
Neighbors tell CBS 2 the break-in started at 6:30 p.m. when Walker opened his garage and was confronted by multiple masked men.
"The word on the street is that it was an inside job. Somebody broke in; they duct-taped them up," he said. "I guess they were in the house for, like, an hour with the guy and they ransacked it and took his Mercedes and took off."
Neighbor Elizabeth Utz expressed concern about safety.
"It's a very nice, wealthy neighborhood, it seems, and right up the road there's very shady areas, and it's scary to think that someone would break into your house like that," Utz said.
"It obviously had to be someone that knew something or had some sort of relationship," said neighbor Jason Walsh.
People who live close by say Walker's home is quiet – no parties, no problems. They have never seen police there before.
"There have been other break-ins as well, so this isn't just the only (one), but what are you going to do when you live in the city?" added neighbor Lydia Lewis.
This is the second time Walker has been the victim of a robbery in his hometown. Seven years ago, he was robbed at gunpoint at a restaurant on Roosevelt Road, along with four other people including NBA player Nazr Muhammad.
That time, robbers took a $55,000 watch.
Walker grew up on the city's South Side, and is a graduate of Mt. Carmel High School. He played basketball for the University of Kentucky before an NBA career that has taken him to Boston, Dallas, Atlanta and the Miami Heat since August 2005.
Walker's agent said the basketball player is very shook up and too upset to talk to reporters about the robbery.
''He's shook up,'' his Chicago-based agent Mark Bartelstein said. ''Who wouldn't be? It's a horrible, horrible thing.''
A representative for Walker says he is letting the police do their job and is confident the investigation will be a success.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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