1 Suspect Arrested in Home Invasion Robbery

A man was arrested on suspicion of committing an armed home invasion robbery in Ventura on Saturday morning and escaping from a police patrol car before being recaptured, police said.

A second armed man involved in the robbery remained at large, authorities said.

Two men, at least one of whom was masked, broke in the front door of a Wall Street apartment about 5:30 a.m. and held a couple at knifepoint and gunpoint in their bed while grabbing items, authorities said.

During the incident, the man with the gun struck the male victim on the head. The female victim was not injured and called 911 while the robbers were still in the home, said Ventura Police Sgt. Glen Utter.

When officers arrived, the gun-toting robber had fled, but his alleged accomplice, Mitchell Alan Joyce, 34, of Ventura, was arrested as he attempted to flee, Utter said. Officers recovered the knife and some of the stolen goods.

Joyce was also booked on suspicion of burglary, possession of a controlled substance and unspecified parole violations that require he be held without bail. After his arrest, Joyce slid out a partly open rear window in the patrol car as it came to a stop but was immediately grabbed by officers.