Robbers Flee Home During Power Outage

Four gunmen who invaded a La Mirada home and terrorized the occupants Monday suddenly fled when a neighborhood power outage frightened them, authorities said.

A couple and their two grown children had returned home from their business when four men with handguns confronted them, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. Andrew Bedogne.

The gunmen forced the family from the garage into the house. After pistol whipping one member, they tied up the family and ransacked the house.

But a power outage in the area frightened them, Bedogne said. “They thought the police had surrounded the place, and they fled.”

The Sheriff’s Department, however, was not yet aware of the crime, he said. The power outage lasted only a few minutes.

The victims, business owners who keep receipts from a restaurant and nightclub in their home, have asked that their names be withheld for fear they will be targeted again, Bedogne said.

The robbers, who were dressed in black and wore knit caps, escaped with $13,000 in cash and up to $20,000 worth of jewelry Monday, Bedogne said. They fled in a black Chevrolet Blazer.