Three Gunmen Invade Home in Mission Viejo

Three gunmen forced their way into a Mission Viejo home Thursday, tied up the family inside and forced them to hand over $40,000 in cash, authorities said.

The father and mother inside the house were traumatized but not hurt, police said. Their son suffered moderate injuries when he was thrown down the stairs, police said. The family was not identified.

Jim Amormino, Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman, said authorities believe the robbers followed the father home after he made a large withdrawal from a Lake Forest bank. “It’s very rare that anything like this happens in Mission Viejo, so he may have been a specifically targeted victim,” Amormino said.

About 2 p.m., a man knocked on the door of the family’s home in the 26700 block of Strafford, police said. “The suspect told the man he was collecting money for charity, for breast cancer,” Amormino said.

When the father opened the door, three men with handguns pushed their way inside, police said. They tied up the father and mother. Their son was thrown down the stairs and also tied up, police said.

The robbers snatched the money and electronics equipment before fleeing in a blue Chevy pickup with a camper shell, police said. A fourth suspect drove the getaway car.

The father was able to untie himself and call police, but the robbers were long gone, officials said.

Neighbors said the couple and their two college-age children moved into the two-story home several years ago. One son came home in the middle of the robbery, according to neighbors.

“We just laid there and cooperated so they’d just leave,” the son told next-door neighbor Nancy Ruth.

The father owns several ATM machines, neighbors and officials said. He went to the bank, then to a nearby McDonald’s to fill up an ATM machine before heading home, officials said.

When Ruth came home, seven police cars were swarming her street.

“We’re very surprised because this whole area is extremely safe,” Ruth said. “It makes me feel better that it seemed like an isolated incident. But you can never be too careful.”