A woman was robbed at gunpoint in her home in Basalt on Wednesday, and a police official said he anticipated making an arrest Thursday.

Two suspects broke into the home on Riverside Drive around noon, believing the woman was out of town, said Basalt Sgt. Stu Curry, who also is a co-acting police chief.

The woman, who is in her 70s, saw the two when she got out of the shower.

“They thought she was going to be gone for three days,” Curry said.

He declined to say how police got that information because the suspects were not yet in custody and he didn’t want to compromise the case.

One of the suspects pointed a handgun at her and asked where she kept anything of value. She complied with the robbers and was ordered to sit down as they continued to steal her possessions, Curry said.

The victim was “unbelievably terrified,” he said.

Basalt police and the tactical unit of the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office carried out a search warrant of a Battlement Mesa home on Thursday morning. The unit, which performs SWAT-like duties, was brought in because of the threat of the gun, Curry said.

An arrest warrant was being prepared Thursday afternoon.

Information about the suspects came into law enforcement within an hour of the robbery, Curry said.

“We got assistance from other agencies in the I-70 west [region] with these individuals, and we were able to make a partial ID,” he said.

A member of a homeowner’s association in the Riverside Drive area went door to door to warn neighbors Wednesday evening, some of whom called Basalt police asking if they were safe, Curry said.

He stressed that the home invasion was an isolated incident.

“This is a very rare occurrence in Basalt,” Curry said. “Riverside Drive is a nice, safe neighborhood.”

Tanny McGinnis, spokeswoman for the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, said her department’s tactical unit is called the All Hazards Response Team.

They are called in “anytime there is a high risk or the possibility of weapons,” she said. “If there’s a possibility of injury with an individual, we go in with the tools we have to lower the risk.”

A robbery happening during the daytime isn’t that unusual, Curry added, as the thinking is that most people are at work.

chad@aspendailynews.com [1]