OTTAWA — A Gatineau couple remain in hospital suffering from shock and minor injuries after being tied up during a home invasion in their residential neighbourhood early Saturday evening.

Gatineau Police said that some time around the dinner hour, a man knocked on the door of the house at 14 Cartier St., near the Alonzo Wright Bridge, asking if he could use the phone.

When invited inside, another man rushed into the house where the two suspects tied up the wife, 60. The husband then began to fight with the suspects, during which he was cut on the back. He was later tied up during the incident.

The Major Crimes Unit is investigating the case, though police believe theft was the motivation behind the home invasion.

“The investigator is going to have to establish why they picked that address,” said Lt. Jean-Francois Beauchamp, describing the neighbourhood as nice and quiet. “Was their home targeted specifically?”

Police said the suspects are both caucasian men about 30 years old and French-speaking. One is about six feet tall and muscular, while the other is about five feet eight inches tall.

Police couldn’t immediately say whether anything was taken, how long the home invasion lasted or what the suspects were wearing, citing inability to interview the witnesses due to their shock.

After the suspects left, the woman ran to the neighbour’s house, hands still tied, asking for assistance. They phoned the police at 6:36 p.m.

Police found the husband still tied up, lying on the first floor near the main entrance to the house. The suspects had fled the house and were not found within the vicinity.

The couple were sent to Gatineau Hospital in ambulance, where they remained Sunday.

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