2 Armed Robberies Fit ‘Home Invasion’ Pattern by Asian Gangs

Armed robbers broke into homes in Anaheim and Yorba Linda on Thursday morning, tying up residents--one for more than 12 hours--and stealing cash, jewelry and weapons, authorities said.

It was not immediately determined if the two incidents, which occurred 10 hours apart, were related. But police said they fit the pattern of “home invasions” by Asian gangs targeting Asian victims.

“They’re happening all over,” said Brea Police Detective Grant Gulickson. “It’s getting real popular.”

The first robbery occurred at 1 a.m. in a single-family home in the 300 block of North Colgate Street in Anaheim, Lt. Ray Welch said.

William Donald Lopino, 31, who rents a room from Cat Gia Pham, was awakened by the sounds of someone breaking into the house, Welch said.

Lopino described the three intruders as young Asians, all of whom were armed with handguns. The men, finding Lopino in the bedroom, ordered him to the floor, tied him and blindfolded him.

They then began rummaging through the house and taking valuables, Welch said. At one point, one of the men fired a shot, then cut the phone lines, police said. Lopino was not hurt.

When the intruders asked Lopino where Pham and his family were, he replied that they were out for the night, Welch said. The robbers decided to wait for the family to return, but after several hours, they left, Welch said.

Lopino remained tied up for more than 12 hours. After he managed to free himself, he fled the house at 1:50 p.m. and called police.

In Yorba Linda, police received a call at 11:50 a.m. from a frantic woman who said five or six armed men had forced themselves into her home in the 1700 block of Thicket Lane. They had tied up two women and an infant and escaped with an undetermined amount of jewelry and cash and a handgun, Gulickson said. No one was injured.