A family in Studio City remains shaken after coming face-to-face with three masked intruders in a frightening encounter.
On Oct. 14, the suspects targeted the home along Klump Avenue at around 3:45 p.m. Surveillance cameras captured a dark-colored, four-door BMW sedan with tinted windows and no license plates pulling up to the house.
Three hooded, masked suspects are seen creeping up to the home and heading toward the backyard. As they enter a patio area, they peer through the glass doors and windows.
Just as they were about to break inside, they were startled when the homeowner spotted them from a detached office in his backyard and began yelling.
Security video spotted the homeowner running after them while yelling out to his family to call the police, not realizing his wife and daughter had just left the home. The suspects quickly ran back out to the driveway and fled the scene.
The man’s wife, Lea Young, said the incident has left her family shaken.
“It’s very unsettling, especially for my husband, because he was the one who was home,” she told KTLA’s Chris Wolfe. “I had just left with my daughter, so he was the one who confronted the burglars.”
Young said she is convinced the burglars had been staking out her home and that they believed the house was empty when approached.
They were about to use a concrete block to smash through her daughter’s bedroom window when her husband suddenly spotted them.
“My husband was right there, really close,” Young said of his detached office. “He came running out of his office and yelled, ‘Hey! What are you doing?’ and then they just dropped the brick and ran.”
She said the criminals were holding devices that appeared to be walkie-talkies or possibly Wi-Fi jammers to disable home security systems. As the suspects remain at large, some neighbors in the area are worried they might return.
“It’s really scary out there,” said Shari Shaw, a neighbor. “I think what’s really important is that homeowners get to know each other so people can keep a lookout and be aware of what’s going on, so the minute something happens, we contact each other.”
“The police said to call if you see a car without license plates,” Young said of the suspects.
Residents in the area said they plan to stay alert and hope the suspects are caught soon before the next encounter turns violent or even deadly.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Los Angeles Police Department at 1-877-527-3247.
The post Homeowner scares off 3 masked intruders in Studio City appeared first on KTLA.
