Two More Immigrants Robbed, Shaved

In what police believe could be the latest act of a group of border thieves, two illegal immigrants were tricked into accepting a ride from three men who later abducted and robbed them, then shaved their heads, police said.

Six illegal immigrants were similarly assaulted in three robberies early this month.

The most recent incident occurred late Sunday and early Monday. The two victims--Manuel Gutierrez Sanchez, 20, and Antonio Vasquez Guzman, 18--were walking along a South San Diego freeway when three men in a blue Toyota pickup with a camper shell offered them a ride, San Diego police spokesman Bill Robinson said.

The victims, who were unfamiliar with San Diego, later told police they did not know which freeway they had been on, he said.

“The two men agreed to the ride and were told to lie flat in the back of the truck. The victims were then driven to an unknown location we believe is probably in San Diego,” Robinson said.

“The victims reported being taken to a house . . . and, once they got to this address these three would-be Samaritans produced a handgun and two knives,” he said.

The three took the victims’ money, then forced them to take off their pants, which the robbers slashed with the knives, apparently looking for hidden money, Robinson said.

“Then they shaved the two victims’ heads with an electric razor. After this, the suspects forced the two victims back into the blue Toyota and dropped them off,” he said.

The two waved down a passing police officer in the 4500 block of Federal Boulevard in Southeast San Diego. They told police their three captors were Latino, about 5-foot-6, with medium builds. Two of them were wearing blue jeans, one with a white shirt, Robinson said.

“The victims were new to the country and didn’t know the area or the home where they were taken, but the blue Toyota with the camper shell is the first real solid piece of evidence,” he said.

On Sept. 1 and 2, six illegal immigrants were robbed in three separate thefts. All six had their heads shaved by their assailants. Also, during two of the three thefts, the robbers ripped apart their victims’ trousers, evidently looking for money sewn into the clothes.

“The method of operation and the general locale is the same for the majority of the cases,” Robinson said.