NORTHRIDGE : Home-Invasion Robbery Draws $25,000 Reward

The city of Los Angeles is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of two suspects being sought in a home-invasion robbery during which a Granada Hills woman was sexually assaulted.

Los Angeles police released composite drawings and descriptions of the suspects during a press conference Wednesday at the LAPD’s Devonshire Division.

According to a statement read by Lt. Kyle Jackson, the first suspect is a Latino male with black hair and brown eyes and is about 5 foot-7, 160 pounds, and 30-35 years old. Detective Ronald Rawson, who is handling the case, said this suspect has “very distinctive acne scars or pockmarks” on his face.

The second suspect also is a Latino male with black hair and brown eyes and is about 5-foot-9, 140 pounds, and 20-25 years old, police said.

The pair forced their way into the Granada Hills couple’s home on Tuscan Drive at about 1:30 p.m. Jan. 2 and tied up the husband with a telephone cord, sexually assaulted the wife and robbed them of about $51,000 in cash, jewelry and electronic equipment, police said.

Police said the men were both carrying semi-automatic, .38 caliber handguns and drove an “older four-door brown import.”

The pair should be considered “armed and dangerous,” Jackson said.

Police are asking the public to call Rawson at the Devonshire Division with information: (818) 756-8291.

The reward was approved by the City Council on Tuesday, along with two other $25,000 rewards stemming from unrelated slayings in Panorama City in November.

Police are also looking for information leading to the conviction of a gunman who fatally shot Jose Torres Jr. in the head and shoulder on Nov. 22, after Torres refused to give up his money.

The gunman had grabbed Torres by the neck and began dragging him away from his car even as Torres held his 4-month-old son, police said. Torres’ wife leaped from the passenger side of the car, grabbed the baby and ran into her apartment. She heard gunfire as she called police.

About a week later, Benito Ozaeta, 23, died after being shot several times. An arrest warrant has been issued for Victor Fuller, 29, who is also wanted in connection with a double stabbing just hours before Ozaeta was shot.