2 Men Investigated in Over 30 Home Robberies

Two Los Angeles men suspected of committing more than 30 home-invasion robberies by impersonating police officers have been arrested and booked on suspicion of a variety of theft, assault and drug crimes, police said Thursday.

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.

The material on display at Parker Center, the Los Angeles Police Department’s headquarters downtown, also included body armor, counterfeit bills and 15 cellular phones. The two men, whose identities were not released, were part of an organized criminal gang, police said.

The suspects were arrested Wednesday after two officers spotted a shirtless man standing in front of a house near Vermont and Slauson avenues in South-Central Los Angeles with a gun sticking out of his waistband, police said. As the officers chased him, he entered the house, where he allegedly pointed the gun at them.

“He was inside and we were outside the house near the door, and I was thinking, ‘Is he going to do me?’ ” said Officer Johnnie Smith. The man obeyed Smith’s order to drop his gun, and Smith and his partner, Officer Arturo Gutierrez, arrested him inside the home in the 5900 block of South Bonsallo Avenue.

“We looked at the coffee table and there was a huge pile of drugs,” said Smith, adding that the confiscated narcotics included heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines.

The second suspect was found in the home and taken into custody, police said. The armed man was booked for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, and both are being held on suspicion of possessing stolen property and drugs.

“I knew this wasn’t just another man-with-a-gun call when I saw all of that stuff,” Gutierrez said at the Parker Center news conference. “I knew this was something major.”

Smith said he was stunned when he saw the loot.

Cmdr. David Kalish said the two men, both in their 20s, fit the description of suspects in 32 home-invasion robberies, eight of which have taken place this year. He said to be suspicious of anyone coming to the door at night claiming to be a police officer.

“If they are not in a police uniform, they should show you some identification badge or I.D. card,” Kalish said. If that identification is not convincing, he said, call 911.

Kalish said anyone who has been a victim of a similar robbery should contact the LAPD’s Robbery/Homicide Division at (213) 485-2511.