Robbers Terrorize Family, Steal Presents

Robbers burst into a Hyde Park home early Thursday and ransacked it, corralling family members in a bathroom and holding a gun to the head of a crying infant before fleeing with all the family’s Christmas presents, Los Angeles police said.

The ordeal began about 12:30 a.m. when one robber knocked on the door of the house on West 54th Street, Police Sgt. Lee Sands said. When the residents opened the door, he pointed his gun and stormed inside, then summoned his three accomplices.

The robbers assembled the family--two women, 36 and 33, two teenagers, ages 17 and 14, and a 7-month-old baby--in the bathroom and ordered them to empty their pockets, Sands said.

When the baby began crying, the gunman held his pistol to the baby’s head and ordered the mother to quiet him.

Before they fled, the robbers whisked all the presents from under the Christmas tree--$2,000 worth of gifts, including a television set, a videocassette recorder and a camcorder--and tried to set the house afire by lighting the gas stove and burning kitchen items, Sands said.

The robbers were described as three male teenagers and a woman in her mid-20s. Sands said that other than the victims, no witnesses to the robbery are known.

Sands said several people came to the station Thursday to donate gifts for the family.