The woman says she went outside to check on the power outage when she was greeted by the three utility workers, but investigators say they are not who they appeared to be.
Monica Runnels says she was getting ready for work when her house went dark. As she went to the backyard, she found three men dressed in Comcast shirts.
"They got on their polo shirts, embroiled Comcast, so I'm thinking they are working and then the white guy, he had all this equipment," she said.
She asked them what they were doing. The nurse's aid says the men got into the house, pushed her to the floor and demanded money and the keys to the vehicle in her garage.
"I'm standing there with the phone dialing, so once I got ready to come back outside, he's already with a gun coming towards me, telling me to shut up, using foul language," Runnels said.
Runnels says she tried to run out of her Tetela Drive home.
"I got my two feet out the door and he grabbed me by my uniform shirt and pulled and dragged me back in," she said.
Eventually, she made it to a neighbors. Investigators with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office say they don't believe the men work for the telecommunications company. They were impersonating workers.
Now deputies are looking for the three men.
Runnels says they didn't get away with much from her home. In fact, they left a little something behind: a gun. But she is most thankful her son wasn't home.
"It's something I will never, ever forget. My life could have been taken just because of a car and money. I just thank the good lord that he was with me, watching me," she said.
Deputies say the three men may have driven off in a red Honda CR-V.
Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for any information called in to the 713-222-TIPS (8477) or submitted online at www.crime-stoppers.org that leads to the filing of felony charges or arrest of the suspect(s) in this case. Tips can also be sent by text message. Text TIP610 plus your tip to CRIMES (274637). All tipsters remain anonymous.
