Bogus Policemen Ransack Home, Take Money, Jewelry

Four men posing as police officers serving a search warrant persuaded a Pomona family to let them into their home, then ransacked the residence and fled in the family car with money and jewelry, police said Sunday.

Wearing business suits and flashing a badge and guns, the four men entered the home of 22-year-old Arnulfo Zuares about 8 a.m. Saturday, said Lt. Bela Laszlo of the Pomona Police Department. Three suspects were later arrested by Los Angeles police.

Laszlo said the men spoke mostly in English to Zuares, who understands only Spanish. They handcuffed Zuares and ransacked the home while holding five other people--including a 5-year-old and a 1-month-old--at gunpoint.

The four fled in the family’s 1986 Mercury Cougar, taking about $1,500 in gold chains and watches, $300 in cash and 300,000 pesos (about $100), police said. Three of the victims were Mexican residents who were visiting Zuares.

No one was injured, police said. During a routine traffic stop Saturday evening, Los Angeles police arrested a man driving the stolen car. Armando Perez Marquez, 36, told police he had borrowed the car from two friends who were drinking on a street corner a few blocks away. The two were also arrested.

Marquez, Arnaldo Fuentes, 23, and Pedro Ramirez Nunez, 28--all Los Angeles residents--were booked on suspicion of armed residential robbery and car theft and held on $25,000 bail each at the Pomona jail. The fourth suspect remained at large, police said.