Suspects charged in violent home-invasion robbery
2 adults ,17- year-old boy caught driving home owner’ s SUV in Modes to about eight hours after armed residential holdup
LOS GATOS
Two adults and a 17-year-old boy were charged in a violent homeinvasion robbery at a secluded home in unincorporated Los Gatos earlier this week that left the homeowner nursing a head injury, authorities said.
Jose Talavera and Maritza Lopez Perez, both 19-year-old Sunnyvale residents, and the boy — an East Palo Alto resident whose name was withheld because he is a minor — are facing felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, kidnapping, and vehicle theft, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s officials said the home invasion was not random, but would not elaborate on any connection between the suspects and the victim. Sheriff’s Sgt. Richard Glennon affirmed a previous statement that there was no immediate evidence indicating the victim recognized or knew his attackers.
The trio was captured Monday afternoon in Modesto after being spotted driving in the victim’s Mercedes-Benz SUV, about eight hours after the robbery was reported. Another passenger in the SUV was arrested but was not formally identified as a defendant.
“Sheriff’s Office investigators believe that most, if not all, of the suspects arrested inside the stolen vehicle participated in the home invasion,” the agency said in a news release Friday.
One more person may be sought: The victim initially told investigators that four male intruders and one female suspect were involved in the robbery, a claim detectives are still working to corroborate.
Investigators contend that around 4 a.m. Wednesday, the group forced their way into the home in the 19000 block of Bainter Avenue and demanded valuables, and physically assaulted the homeowner. The suspects were reportedly armed with at least one handgun.
After the intruders fled the home, apparently in the homeowner’s SUV, the injured man ran to a neighbor’s home for help, and the neighbor called 911, Glennon said.
Working off the vehicle description, Sheriff’s deputies and the county’s Regional Auto Theft Task Force tracked the stolen SUV to the Vintage Faire Mall in Modesto, and spotted the suspects in vehicle parked at the site.
After the arrests, a search of the vehicle turned up a semiautomatic pistol and a revolver that investigators believe were used in the robbery and attack hours earlier.
Contact Robert Salonga at 408-920-5002.