5 Armed Teens Arrested During Home Robbery in Westminster : Crime: The gunmen bound several members of a family with wire and ransacked the home, police say. Suspects are believed to be members of an Asian gang.

Five teen-agers brandishing pistols and semiautomatic weapons were arrested outside the scene of a home invasion robbery Monday night after a short standoff with police.

The five gunmen entered the residence about 11:15 p.m., bound several family members with wire and ransacked the house for valuables, according to victims and police. During the robbery attempt, one family member leaped off a balcony and telephoned police, who were waiting outside when the first suspect attempted to leave a few minutes later.

No shots were fired and none of the eight victims were injured during their 30-minute ordeal, police said.

Detective Marcus Frank said the four remaining suspects barricaded themselves inside the house for about 20 minutes after they realized that police had surrounded the home in the 7800 block of 13th Street.

Frank said the five suspects are believed to be members of an Asian gang and one of the youths arrested had apparently escaped about a month ago from a low-security county juvenile facility operated by the Probation Department.

Police said the escaped juvenile had a criminal record that included grand theft auto, assault and battery, and at least one probation violation.

The five were booked on suspicion of armed robbery. The four juveniles range in age from 14 to 17. They are being held at Orange County Juvenile Hall. The fifth gunman, Hoang Van Doan, 19, is in the Orange County Jail. No arraignment date has been set.

Doan was on a list of local gang members police had targeted for arrest for gang activity and had recently been on probation for a crime committed while a juvenile, Lt. Larry Woessner said.

Members of the victimized Nguyen family said that when the robbery began, Chi Nguyen, 11, was at home with two of his older brothers, Tony Bui, 23, and Randy Bui, 25, his mother, Trinh Nguyen, 52, as well as three people who are not family members but share the home.

At 11 p.m., there was a knock at the door. When it was opened, the five gunmen burst into the house and began tying Chi Nguyen’s hands and herding him and his brothers into the garage, he said. Trinh Nguyen locked herself in the bathroom.

Chi Nguyen said the gunmen began searching for jewelry, money and electronic equipment. “They didn’t break anything, they just messed things up,” he said.

The robbery began to unravel 10 minutes later as a gunman was about to lead Randy Bui downstairs to the garage; the others were tied up. At that moment, Steve Bui, 17--who had gone out earlier--returned to the house and rang the doorbell.

One of the robbers went downstairs to answer the door, leaving Randy Bui alone in an upstairs bedroom. He jumped from the second-floor balcony and called police, Steve Bui said.

Five police officers surrounded the townhouse, which is at the end of a row of attached homes.

“When the police showed up, (the gunmen) were pretty scared,” Chi Nguyen said. “They threw blankets over us and told us to shut our eyes, so that is what I did.”

The first officer to the house peered through a crack in the garage door and saw the gunmen brandishing weapons and ransacking the house. Moments later, the first gunman attempted to flee and was arrested. The others defied police orders to surrender, then gave up after about 20 minutes.

Chi Nguyen said his family is considering moving from the area.

“My mother is still scared,” he said. “Nothing like this has ever happened to us before.”