CANOGA PARK, ENCINO : Jewelry, Cash Taken in 2 Home Robberies

Two separate home robberies carried out Tuesday netted bandits more than $65,000 in cash and jewelry from homes in Canoga Park and Encino, authorities said.

In the first robbery, three men and one woman burst into a home in the 7700 block of DeSoto Avenue about 10:20 a.m. and threatened to kill the 41-year-old homeowner unless she opened a safe at the home, said Los Angeles Police Detective Roland L’Heureux.

Carrying semiautomatic weapons, the intruders terrorized the woman, her two children and an unidentified male who lives at the home, L’Heureux said. The woman, who sold jewelry from her home, was pistol-whipped and had a gun stuck inside her mouth before she opened the safe.

The robbers took $12,000 from a recently cashed FEMA check, $30,000 in jewelry and escaped in the victim’s gray 1990 Toyota Camry, L’Heureux said. All of the victims were tied up with either duct tape or phone cord, he added.

Investigators believe the robbery was carried out by people who knew that the woman kept valuables at the home, L’Heureux said.

In the second incident, a lone robber entered the grounds of a two-acre estate through an automatic gate that opened as the residents returned home, and confronted a woman as she stepped out of her car, authorities said.

The robbery took place about 8:45 p.m. in the 5100 block of Louise Avenue when the 46-year-old woman and her 22-year-old daughter returned from a Van Nuys Boulevard restaurant, L’Heureux said.

The robber trailed the car to the garage where he used bodily force to demand jewelry and money from the woman, L’Heureux said. He took cash and jewelry valued at $25,000, L’Heureux said.

The daughter locked herself in the vehicle during the robbery, L’Heureux said.

“It could have been a crime of opportunity or a follow-home (robbery); we don’t know,” he said.

The robber was described as a black male, about 6 foot, 2 inches tall and weighing between 165 and 170 pounds. He wore a blue nylon jacket with a white stripe across the chest and dark pants during the robbery, L’Heureux said.

Police have no suspects in either incident, L’Heureux said.