Police Bulletin Police Bulletin (July 02, 2004)

Robbers bust in, beat residents

Several men burst into a home near Stoneridge Drive and Santa Rita Road at 3:30 a.m. last Friday, beating the two residents, who sustained minor injuries, before fleeing with an unknown amount of money and property.

Police reported that four or five men, who were unknown to the victims, gained entry into the home through an unlocked side garage door.

Using duct tape, the suspects bound both a 51-year-old female and her 18-year-old son. Both of the victims' heads were covered with blankets, police said.

The victims told police that one of the men wielded a black, semiautomatic pistol.

Demanding cash, the assailants beat both victims. While several of the men searched the home, the others continued to beat the residents, police said.

After grabbing cash, all of the telephones in the house and a small amount of marijuana, the attackers threatened the victims, telling them they would be killed if they did not wait three minutes.

The victims freed themselves and fled to a neighbor's house, where they called police.

Police described the suspects as Asian and Hispanic men. All of the men, except the one wielding the handgun, wore masks.

The unmasked attacker was described as an Asian male between 20 and 25 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 170 pounds. He wore a dark-colored long-sleeve sweatshirt and dark pants, police said.

Both victims were treated at ValleyCare Medical Center. The female victim was treated for cuts to her face and scalp, and the 18-year-old was treated for an injury to his left forearm and a bruise on the back of his head.

The case is under investigation and anyone with information about this crime, Case No. 04-4161, should contact Detective Pat Walsh, 931-5100. Look out for purse snatchers

In two unrelated incidents, purse snatchers struck while women were walking near or were inside their vehicles, police reported last week.

In the first theft, which occurred in the Stoneridge Shopping Center parking lot, a woman told police a black female in her 20s approached her. While the woman distracted the victim, a black man in his 20s reached into the victim's car and grabbed her purse. Both crooks fled the scene in a silver compact car.

In the second case, the victim was in the Wal-Mart parking lot. As she was walking from her vehicle, a white female in her 20s tried to grab the woman's purse. The victim screamed and the perpetrator ran away.

Police caution shoppers to be aware of their surroundings and to call police if they see suspicious activity. Crime dampens dry fountain

An unknown suspect swiped a $500 water fountain sometime overnight June 20 from a front yard at a home near Bernal Avenue and Foothill Road.

The victim reported to police that the fountain was about 10 yards from his front door, but it was not secured to the ground.

The fountain was not operating and the thief would have been able to take it from the yard in three pieces, police said.

The victim reported hearing a car door open and close several times about 10:30 p.m., but did not know the direction the sounds were coming from. Police said it did not appear as if the suspect drove a vehicle into the victim's yard to load the fountain.

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