OJAI : Family Terrorized by Armed Intruders

An Ojai family was held hostage for five hours by a trio of armed men as they ransacked the family’s isolated farmhouse, Ventura County sheriff’s deputies said Thursday.

A relative staying at the house Thursday said the family was terrified by the incident and have left their home of 20 years in fear that the assailants will return.

“They are scared--really scared,” said Ramiro Garcia, a cousin of the family. “I don’t know what (the robbers) were looking for. They were taking advantage of the isolation.”

The incident began about 6:40 p.m. Wednesday when three men entered the house of Luis and Arcelia Garcia on Ojai Avenue east of Ojai city limits, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Noel Brown.

At home at the time were the family’s 12-year-old daughter and two male cousins, one 17 and the other 20. The assailants bound the two young men with duct tape before rummaging through the house, Brown said.

After a period of time, Arcelia Garcia, 39, arrived home with her 19-year-old daughter. Both were then held captive while the robbers continued to search for valuables, Brown said.

The assailants fled with an undetermined amount of money, jewelry and a handgun, with one man firing shots inside the house before leaving.

Luis Garcia, who was not home during the robbery, is a foreman and long-term employee of the Ojai Land Co., which owns the house, Ramiro Garcia said. The house, located in an orange grove, is invisible to passing motorists, is used by employees of a sprawling citrus and avocado ranch.