Woman selling Bibles attempts armed robbery

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — A woman claiming to sell children’s Bibles was a front for a violent group of robbers, according to Forsyth County deputies.

The victim and her husband spent the day talking to investigators but also shared their story with Channel 2's Tom Regan.

Debbie Heard said she opened the door Tuesday afternoon and the alleged saleswoman and men wearing hoodies forced their way into her  Tamiami Trail home, near Cumming,

"She showed me those Bible story books and I was really thinking, 'It would be great to have a new set for my grandchildren,'" she said.

The men bolted in the door and took her downstairs and demanded the combination for her safe, Heard told Regan.

"They had a gun. Smacked me around, beat my face up, beat my arms up," she said. "They started hitting me, pushed the gun into my head and ripped my clothes."

She called her son to get the combination.

"I said there's people here holding me at gunpoint and they're going to kill me if you don't tell me," Heard said.

She called her husband, who was out of state on business, and he gave her the combination.

"They never would get on the phone with me and when I hung up, I really thought I would never see her again," Kim Heard said.

Moments later the sound of sirens scared off the attackers who left with nothing. Her son had called 911.

"The Forsyth County police saved my wife. They saved my wife," Kim Heard said.

"It's very upsetting people would use God as a hoax to get into somebody's home. It really is," Debbie Heard said.

The assailants left the home in a late model Toyota Camry, white or pearl in color, before deputies arrived.

The woman is described as having shoulder-length blonde hair, blue eyes and was 5 feet 2 inches tall, according to police.

Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to contact Detective M. Christian at 678-513-5920 during normal business hours or if calling after hours, the dispatch center at 770-781-3087.

WSBTV