HispanicBusiness

A group of armed robbers targeting Hispanic-owned insurance companies has held up 29 businesses in Houston since May, with the last one occurring on Oct. 31, according to police.

Thus far, the gunmen -- who witnesses say appear to be from Honduras or Central America -- have not hurt anyone. But they have taped mouths shut, tied hands behind backs and forced people into restrooms before robbing businesses of their cash reserves, and in the process have sometimes filched employees' personal belongings such as money and cell phones, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Surveillance videos and witness testimony indicate that the Spanish-speaking men usually carry out their crimes in small groups of two or three, and do not wear masks. The crime usually begins with the men coming into the office as if they are looking for insurance. Sometimes they ask to use the restroom before brandishing their weapons.

One witness told the paper the men drove away in a Honda.

Ana Mezomo, 18, was working at Mari's Income Tax Service when the gunmen struck on Oct. 10. The men sealed her mouth shut with tape and bound her hands in a restroom.

"I was terrified. To this day, I can't be by myself," she told the Chronicle. "I won't be by myself. I just get scared if someone comes up behind me. I don't feel like I will be comfortable until they get caught."

Karina Monita, who is pregnant, told the paper the men pointed a gun at her stomach. They later forced her into a restroom, where she sobbed uncontrollably in the dark.

"I was thinking that was probably the last time I was going to be alive," she told the paper.