CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / ALTADENA

Detectives are looking for two thieves who posed as police officers and robbed a man in his Altadena home of about $2,000, said officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The robbers, who were wearing dark uniforms similar to those worn by law enforcement officers, forced their way into a house about 9 p.m. Thursday in the 3400 block of Fair Oaks Avenue, officials at the Altadena sheriff’s station said.

“They were wearing gun belts and were each armed with a handgun,” authorities said. “One of the suspects was wearing a baseball cap with the word ‘Police’ printed on the front.”

The man opened his front door because he believed the men were police officers, deputies said, but he became suspicious when he saw that one of the suspects wore tennis shoes and he did not see a marked patrol car, according to authorities.

The robbers forced their way into the house and handcuffed the man at gunpoint. When the robbers demanded to know the location of his safe, the man told them he did not have one, and they ransacked the house, deputies said. In addition to the cash, the robbers stole miscellaneous checks and watches.

The man was not injured.

-- Ann M. Simmons