Families Terrorized as Gunmen Invade 2 Homes : Crime: Police arrive during robbery and arrest 3 men at a house in Santa Ana. In Westminster, robbers drive off with money in a van belonging to the victim.

Two families were terrorized by armed robbers who burst into their homes in Santa Ana and Westminster in incidents occurring within two hours of each other late Monday and early Tuesday.

Police arrived during the Santa Ana robbery and arrested three men, but the gunmen in the Westminster robbery remained at large.

No one was injured in either incident. But members of the Westminster family, whose names were not released by police, were bound as the robbers ransacked their home in the 14000 block of Janice Street just after midnight Monday, Police Lt. Mike Schliskey said.

The father of the family arrived home from work during the robbery. The gunmen took him hostage and forced him to drive back to the market he owns in Westminster’s Little Saigon, police said.

“They made him open the safe, took money, then drove off in his van,” Schliskey said. “We assume they must have known he owned the market and they waited for him to get home.”

The robbers were last seen driving away in the victim’s white 1993 Dodge Caravan with license plate number 3DIB934. They were described as Vietnamese in their late teens or early 20s.

Police described the robbery as a typical “home invasion” crime, in which Asian gangs target Asian families, believing that cash, gold and jewelry may be kept at the residences. Merchants in Little Saigon have been targets in the past.

Two hours before the Westminster robbery, three men confronted a family as they drove up to a Santa Ana house in the 2000 block of Artesia Street, Police Sgt. Don Robertson said.

A daughter who witnessed the attack said: “They put a gun to my dad’s head and my mom ran into the house and said to call the police. My dad said to them, ‘I don’t have any money. Take my car and leave my family alone.’ ”

The men then forced Luis Lepe, 30, into the house at gunpoint while six other family members hid in the bathroom. Police officers arrived at the home within five minutes of being called, the daughter said.

A 21-year-old relative who lives at the house said: “I was thinking they were going to hurt us. I didn’t know if the police were going to come because (the caller) didn’t get to talk to them too much on the phone.”

Robertson said that when officers arrived, they heard shots fired in the rear of the house and two of the gunmen came running toward the front of the house. They were confronted by police and arrested.

“A third suspect barricaded himself inside of the house but came out voluntarily when he was informed that a canine unit would be released on him,” Robertson said.

Those arrested were identified as Ricardo Cruz Lopez, 22, Bernardo Rodriguez, 34, and Armando Colon Mozo, 28, all of Santa Ana.

The three, who police said were found carrying weapons, were being held in Orange County Jail on suspicion of armed robbery.