Authorities Thursday sought public help to find three men who committed an armed home-invasion robbery in the unincorporated West Whittier area and may be connected to a similar subsequent crime in Cerritos.
The crime occurred Wednesday night in the 12100 block of Washington Boulevard. The victims, a married couple in their 60s, were unharmed.
“The female victim walked out of her home a little after 9 p.m. to retrieve an item from her vehicle parked in her driveway, when she was confronted by a male black adult armed with a rifle,” according to Detective Eric Callahan of the sheriff’s Pico Rivera Station.
He said the gunman ordered the woman back into the house at gunpoint and followed her inside, then directed both victims to lay on the floor.
“Two additional male black suspects entered the home and ransacked the rooms, stealing items of jewelry,” Callahan said. “The victims were ordered to stand up and walk into an adjacent room. The suspects took cash from them, then fled …”
No getaway vehicle was seen, he said.
Deputies with the sheriff’s Cerritos Station responded to a similar home invasion robbery involving three male black suspects, one armed with a rifle, about two hours later, Callahan said.
Additional details about that crime, which occurred about 11 p.m. in the 4600 block of El Rancho Verde Drive in Cerritos, were not immediately released.
Lt. Richard Hernandez of the Cerritos Station said only that deputies responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon at the location. It’s unclear if anyone was hurt during the Cerritos home invasion.
All three suspects were described as 25-30 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches tall with thin builds. All were wearing hoodie-type sweaters with the hoods pulled up on their heads.
Anyone with information about the crimes was urged to call the Pico Rivera Station at (562) 949-2421.
[symple_googlemap title=”Home invasions” location=”12100 Washington Boulevard, Whittier, CA” height=”300″ zoom=”15″]
— City News Service