Father, Son Elude Gunfire to Get Back Boy’s Bicycle

A 14-year-old boy and his father braved a bat-wielding thug and a fusillade of bullets to retrieve a stolen bicycle, police said Friday.

Two alleged bicycle thieves were arrested Thursday night after a three-hour standoff with police. Troy Barber, 22, of North Hills, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and a 15-year-old North Hills boy was taken to Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, where he was being detained on suspicion of robbery.

The teenage victim was confronted by Barber and two teens--one of whom was carrying an aluminum bat--about 8:15 p.m. on the corner of Parthenia Street and Burnet Avenue, police said.

They demanded the boy’s BMX bike, which he gave them, police said. He then went back to his family’s apartment and told his father his bike had been stolen. He and his father--who asked not to be identified, police said--returned to the corner, where they found the suspects and asked for the bike back. The suspects refused and pedaled away, police said.

The boy and his father got into their car and pursued the suspects. Police said Barber noticed they were being tailed, and allegedly pulled a handgun from his waistband and began firing in the pursuers’ direction. Three bullets hit their car and another struck a nearby house, but no was injured.

Undercover detectives who happened to be in the neighborhood called for help. The suspects fled and hid in an apartment complex on the corner of Parthenia Street and Noble Avenue, police said.

About 70 police officers surrounded the complex and after three hours of negotiations, Barber and the 15-year-old boy were arrested. The third boy was not found.

Police said the victims were tenacious and were lucky to get their stolen property back.

“They thought they could get the bike back and they did,” said Det. Ken Crocker of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire Division.