Home Invasion Leaves Mountain View Residents on Edge

A home invasion in the Mountain View community has neighbors afraid of what could happen next.

A masked intruder allegedly attacked a woman and knocked her unconscious at a home just 15 paces away from a converted garage where 62-year-old Maria Lopez died in a fire four days earlier.

The home invasion victim and others in the neighborhood are now wondering if the two cases are in any way connected.

The home invasion victim, who wished to be identified only as “Wendy,” spoke with NBC 7 Tuesday night, visibly shaken.

“I'm scared. I don't know what's going to happen,” Wendy said.

On Monday, as Wendy sat at her kitchen table, she said a man in black mask walked through her front door.

“He says, ‘I'm going to kill you.’ I don't know what happened at that moment,” Wendy recalled.

Wendy said the intruder knocked her unconscious and onto the floor. When she came to, he was gone but not one thing was stolen.

“Yes it's kind of weird. Everything is kind of weird,” she told NBC 7.

Four days earlier, Lopez was found dead in a nearby garage converted to a one-bedroom apartment she called home.

Lopez’ son Paul has his own suspicions on his mother’s death.

He saw Maria just hours before the fire. She was in good spirits. He brought her groceries and cleaning supplies she requested.

The cause of the fire is undetermined. According to a report from the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office, the cause and manner of Lopez’s death is still under investigation.

Ricardo Cruz lives next to Lopez' apartment that went up in flames and in front of Wendy's home.

“It's weird because we're like right next to where the fire happened. It's weird because all this might link up to something else,” Cruz said.

Neighbors are hoping investigators will figure out if and how it all adds up before someone else winds up in the equation.
 

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