Police Probing Robberies of Indochinese

The Police Department is investigating a series of brutal robberies of Indochinese residents in Southeast San Diego, including the shooting death of a man this week, but have not yet determined whether they are linked.

The robberies, which police believe have been committed by a group or groups of young Asians, have been characterized by demands for gold and the ransacking of the victims’ houses.

“There is that possibility” that the robberies are linked, homicide Detective Bob Lopez said Friday.

Although several residential robberies by young Asian males have occurred, Lopez said, he is wary of attributing the incidents to gang members.

‘It’s Hard to Tell’

“I haven’t seen anything that would indicate that they would be gang members,” Lopez said. “Traditional gangs--Hispanics and blacks--wear colors, but Asian gangs are difficult to pinpoint and identify. It’s hard to tell that they are gang members, because they don’t have the traditional markings that Hispanic and black gangs have.”

The most recent residential robbery occurred Thursday night and ended in the shooting death of Huy Tinh Le, 42, who lived in the 4100 block of Polk Avenue.

The three thieves, who were dressed in black, knocked at the victim’s door about 8:30 and forced their way into the home, police said. Armed with handguns and knives, the assailants demanded money and gold and ransacked the house. During the robbery, the thieves, in their late teens or early twenties, shot Le several times, and he died almost immediately, police said.

The bandits fled, but no vehicle was seen or heard. Other members of the Vietnamese family witnessed the shooting.

‘Turned Into a Murder’

Lopez believes the incident “was just a residential robbery that turned into a murder.”

In another incident, a Vietnamese couple was robbed in the 2600 block of Gerald Court on Jan. 19. Authorities received a call at 2 p.m. that a woman was screaming for help, according to police spokesman Bill Robinson. When officers arrived, the victims told them they had been robbed by four Vietnamese gunmen who tied them up and blindfolded them. The thieves, demanding gold, ransacked their house, destroyed furniture and took $400 to $500 in cash.

The woman told police that, during the robbery, one assailant held a knife to her throat, cutting her slightly, and that her husband was kicked during the attack.

On the afternoon of Jan. 11, a Laotian woman in her yard in the 4200 block of Thorn Street in Southeast San Diego was approached by three Vietnamese men, who forced her at gunpoint to join her family inside the house, which they then ransacked, police said.

Inside, they threatened the family by picking up a baby, saying they would throw it to the floor if the family did not cooperate. An older relative tried to protect the baby when they put it back down, and she was kicked in the face and chest.

The family was made to lie on a bed covered with a blanket while the men ransacked the house for money. The thieves stole equipment and credit cards.

Detective Carl Campo said the similarities are not enough to establish a link between the robberies.