Couple Bound, Robbed by Men Posing as Police

Two men impersonating police officers entered a home at gunpoint Friday, tied up the couple who lived there, and stole $1,000 in cash and a laptop computer before escaping, police said.

The victims--a married couple--were otherwise unharmed.

The robbers were both wearing dark clothing and caps with the word “police” on the brow, said LAPD Det. Robert Johansen.

“Unfortunately, this happens too often,” said LAPD spokesman Lt. Anthony Alba, “but generally on the eastside or the southside of town, where recent immigrants might not be familiar with our law-enforcement officials. This one’s a bit different.”

The victims live in the 7800 block of McLaren Avenue, a relatively quiet street in a predominantly middle-class neighborhood, Johansen said.

The husband was in his garage at 12:05 a.m. when the men approached him, pointed guns at him and told him they were police officers. The men forced him into his house and forced his wife to get money out of a safe, Johansen said.

The men tied up the couple and fled over a wall in back of the house, the victims told police.

The robbers were armed with a chrome semiautomatic handgun and a small revolver, police said.

Police said they are looking for are a 5-foot, 10-inch white male, 180 pounds, 25 to 30 years old, and a 5-foot, 7-inch black male, 160 pounds, 20 to 25 years old, in connection with the incident. Burbank Police Lt. Chris Welker said her department has been on the lookout for police impersonators since the arrest of an armed motorist driving a police-style car equipped with searchlights and yellow lights about three months ago.

The man, whom Welker suspected was a private investigator, was booked for illegal possession of a loaded firearm.

In September, two Los Angeles men suspected of committing more than 30 home-invasion robberies were arrested on suspicion of several theft, assault and drug crimes. At a widely publicized press conference, police displayed more than 100 items confiscated from the suspects’ home, including night-vision goggles, official Los Angeles police badges, handcuffs, five handguns, a sawed-off shotgun, an assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Johansen said there had been no other recent police impersonation crimes in the San Fernando Valley.