WESTMINSTER : Masked Youths Bind Victims, Take $20,000

A Westminster man told police Tuesday that three masked youths entered his home, bound and gagged him and a friend and fled with more than $20,000 in cash and valuables.

“I was scared for me . . . my friend and my two children,” 38-year-old Ngoc Le said. “I told them (the robbers) I would give them everything . . . if they don’t kill (us).”

Westminster police spokesman Tim Broderson said detectives are investigating the incident but said no details were available.

But in an interview with The Times, Le said the incident occurred shortly after midday. Le, a storeroom clerk, said he was home on sick leave, nursing stomach injuries received in an on-the-job accident involving a forklift. He said he was feeding his 6-month-old daughter, Carol, when the doorbell rang. His son, Ricky, 4, opened the door.

“One man came in. He (shouted in Vietnamese): ‘Close your eyes.’ He said if I opened my eyes he would kill me,” Le said.

Le said two men, wearing white and black masks, bound and gagged him. The other bandit stood outside the bathroom door and waited for his friend, Linh Nguyen, 40, who was taking a shower.

“When I walked out of the bathroom,” Nguyen said, “this man pointed a gun to my head and told me to shut up.” Nguyen, with only a towel around his waist, said he was led into the living room where the robbers bound him and placed one of his shirts over his face.

“They were going to (bind) Ricky,” Le said, “but one of the men told (the others) not to.”

Le said the robbers took $456 in cash from his pants pockets and a gold identification bracelet valued at $1,300.

Nguyen said the bandits took his watch and $82 in cash.

As the bandits barked orders and threats, Le said Carol began to cry. One of the robbers placed the baby in an infant walker and ordered Ricky to push her around the room to quiet her, he said. “Ricky cry too, but he stop after the men tell him they would kill him,” Le said.

“They were mad,” Le said. “The first man (who entered) said he didn’t want to kill. He said I was not telling them the truth. He put the gun in my ear. I could feel it in my ear. He said he would shoot” if he wasn’t told where more money was.

Le said that after one of the bandits struck him in his stomach, he directed them to a chest of drawers where they took $810 and the Les’ two diamond wedding rings worth $16,500.

Le said the robbers also made off with his camera, videocassette recorder, Visa card and checkbook.

After the robbers fled, Nguyen said they freed themselves and called Westminster police.