Teen kidnapped in Cranberry during armed home invasion; Police believe family was targeted

Cranberry Township police believe a home invasion early Tuesday and abduction was not random and that family was targeted.

It was 1:30 a.m. when police were called to the gated community of Stockton Ridge, which Chief Kevin Meyer said is highly unusual.

A 39-year-old woman called 911 and said two masked men bound her and her 17-year-old son and ransacked the home. The men left with the woman’s son at gunpoint, according to police.

County dispatch sent out an alert to neighboring police agencies about the abduction.

“We believe this was a targeted event, direct to this family. We don’t think it was random,” Lt. Chuck Mascellino said. “That out of 100 apartments at the complex, they chose that one.”

Police say the suspects took off in the mother’s car then abandoned it a short distance away from the home, where it’s believed another vehicle was waiting for them.

Channel 11 was there as the mother’s Kia Optima was towed on a flatbed truck to the police department garage.

Beaver County 911 received a call around 5 a.m. from the 17-year-old from a convenience store in Rochester. He was not hurt and has been reunited with his mother, according to police.

The two suspects have not been located.

“We have investigators from a number of different agencies working on that right now to try to determine who’s responsible for this,” Meyer said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 724-776-5180 ext. 5.

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