Two gang members charged in Glendale home invasion robbery
Police caught two documented Los Angeles gang members suspected of tying up a Glendale woman’s hands and covering her head with a pillowcase while she prayed before stealing $70 from her wallet during a home invasion robbery in June, authorities said.
Glendale investigators believe the duo, along with their suspected lookout, are linked to other residential burglaries throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Shortly before 11 a.m. on June 28, the two masked and hooded men – identified as Larnel Anderson, 18, and Phillip Ridge, 29 – sneaked into the 65-year-old woman’s home through a rear sliding door that was left ajar, according to Glendale Police Sgt. Robert William.
From her bedroom, the victim heard voices and yelled out, “Who’s there?”
When she left her room, she was confronted by two men in “Army-style uniforms,” who were communicating with a third suspect – a lookout – by phone. Initially, she thought they were using walkie-talkies.
The suspects, who were not armed, cut an electrical cord and used it to tie the woman’s hands in front of her body. As she prayed out loud, they put a pillowcase over her head and told her to keep quiet. They wouldn’t hurt her, they said, but just wanted her belongings, according to police.
The resident’s home – located on the 2400 block of Flintridge Drive – was burglarized a couple months earlier while she was out of town, so she told the robbers that she didn’t have anything valuable. Police don’t know if the robbery and the previous burglary are related.
After ransacking the victim’s bedroom and stealing $70 from her wallet, the duo fled. The lookout reportedly advised the pair when it was clear for them to come out.
They left the woman in a closet, unharmed.
She told police it seemed like the suspects were not expecting her to be home.
Investigators identified the suspected lookout, but he has not been arrested or charged in the Glendale robbery. Police believe he’s committed other burglaries with the pair.
Detectives used neighborhood surveillance cameras to identify the suspect vehicle, which led them to the three gangsters, who all have “extensive” criminal histories and belong to the Grape Street Crips, William said.
Glendale police officers who belong to a fugitive task force arrested Anderson on Wednesday near his Los Angeles home. Meanwhile, Ridge was already in custody in Orange County in connection with an unrelated residential burglary.
Both were charged with one count of home invasion robbery in connection with the Glendale incident, William said, adding that the charge carries a special allegation of elder abuse.
The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to call Glendale police at (818) 548-4911.
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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com
Twitter: @atchek
