Drama at Front Door Sparked Hostage Vigil

An urgent whisper for help at the front door of a Fountain Valley home triggered an hours-long standoff in a botched robbery that ended with six men arrested, city police said Monday.

No one was injured during the incident, which began shortly after midnight Sunday in the 17300 block of Flame Tree Street.

The ordeal began when a woman called 911 after she spotted a man in her backyard. Police responded to her complaint of a prowler, but when the woman answered the door, she refused to come out of the house and whispered for help.

“Someone was standing behind the door,” said Fountain Valley Police Sgt. Kevin Thomas. “The suspects sent her to the front door to get rid of the cops.”

Officers yanked the woman outside and took her to a patrol car. She told police she and a female friend had been held hostage by five men dressed in black clothes and ski masks and wielding handguns.

Thomas said negotiators tried for more than two hours to contact the robbers. Finally, about 2:30 a.m., he said, they eventually untied the second woman and let her walk outside. They then surrendered without a struggle, he said.

The sixth man, Tuan Thanh La, 23, a manicurist from Canoga Park on parole, was arrested while hiding under a blanket in the getaway car parked near the home, Thomas said.

Thomas said the women, who were in their 20s, did not know the men, but “it appears they were definitely targeted.”

All six men face charges of false imprisonment and robbery. Thomas identified those inside the house as Huan Nguyen, 24, an auto detailer from Camarillo; Tam Nguyen, 32, of Santa Ana; Hung Bui, 23, a student from Panorama City also on parole; Sam Min, 31, a student from San Diego; and Long Nguyen, 21, of Garden Grove, on probation for a prior conviction.

The six were being held at Orange County Jail without bail. They will be arraigned in Westminster today.