Three men accused of kicking down a woman’s door and robbing her at gunpoint early Thursday morning have been arrested on felony charges of robbery, burglary and theft, according to Anchorage police.

The break-in took place in the 200 block of East 45th Avenue at about 1:20 a.m., when the woman reported the theft of her $1,500 tax return, among other items, police said.

She told police the men fled the scene in a blue Chevy van. Officers “flooded the area” but were unable to immediately locate them, police said.

But at about 3:20 a.m., Officer Tim McCulley spotted the van in the 900 block of West 71st Avenue. A search of it revealed the woman’s purse and a Soviet military-style rifle, police said.

Noticing police, two suspects in the home where the vehicle was parked tried run away but were captured, as was a third man in the area, police said.

Jeremy Casillas, 24, of Anchorage; Sylvester Hagedorn, 24, of Valdez; and Sila Pelenato, 18, of Valdez were arrested and charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and second-degree theft.

Pelenato was also charged with second-degree sexual assault for allegedly groping the woman during the raid, police said.

All three were book into the Anchorage jail.

— Anchorage Daily News