Home Robbers Get Cash--and a Beating

Two San Fernando brothers beat a pair of armed home-invasion robbers after one lowered his gun to pick up jewelry and cash, police said Tuesday.

The robbers, both wearing masks, escaped with about $800 in cash and a gold bracelet, police said, after they were punched and one was pummeled with the butt of his own rifle.

It was the second time the Gomez family had been robbed in their home on 7th Street, police Sgt. Mike Langston said. Family members said they believe robbers both times presumed that Ana Gomez, who owns a jewelry store, kept valuables in her home.

They said that, in 1995, four armed men forced their way into the Gomez home and tied up family members. The robbers, who escaped with money and gold, were caught a few hours later.

Police said the second incident occurred about 11 p.m. Monday, when two robbers approached 16-year-old Tony Chavez and a friend in the family’s open garage. The robbers forced them and others into the master bedroom.

Police said one robber had an assault rifle, the other a handgun. When one lowered his rifle, Chavez and his half brother, Gabriel Gomez, 24, attacked.

“My brother jumped across the bed and got the one guy and they started fighting in the hall,” Chavez said. “I went for the other guy, and we ended up in the bathroom. I could see my mom was hitting him too. I had my hands on the [barrel], but [the robber] had the trigger, and shots started going off.”

Two bullets hit the bottom of the bathtub; another went through the wall, Chavez said. A fourth shot apparently ricocheted off the tub and may have struck the robber in the lip, he said. “He was bleeding all over the place,” Chavez said. The robber ran from the house, leaving the rifle, he said.

Chavez said his brother was still scuffling with the second man.

“I went to the guy fighting with my brother and started hitting him in the head with the [rifle butt],” Chavez said. “I hit him with the gun all the way to the door.”

During the struggle, Gomez’s girlfriend and his mother climbed out the bedroom window and went to a neighbor’s house to call police.

By late Tuesday, no arrests had been made.