Homeowner scares off intruders 09-02-04

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/local/985826.html
Redondo resident scares off intruders
Three are arrested on suspicion of attempted burglary after the
incident. By Larry Altman
Daily Breeze

A Redondo Beach man thwarted a burglary at his home when he opened the
blinds and waved a handgun at the potential intruders, who fled.

Police officers quickly caught up to the two women and 16-year-old boy
who allegedly tried to break into the house Monday not knowing someone
was inside. The suspected burglars ended up in jail.

The resident, a graveyard shift worker with a power company, was asleep
at 9:10 a.m. in the 3300 block of McBain Avenue when one of the suspects
knocked at his door, Redondo Beach police Sgt. Phil Keenan said.

The knock apparently is a common tactic used by burglars. When no one
answered, they figured no one was home.

By this time, the homeowner got up to check who was at the door, and he
noticed somebody suspicious across the street and heard a noise at the
back of the house, Keenan said.

He realized somebody was trying to break in through his back window and
got a handgun.

“As the person is still trying to make entry into the window he pulls
back the miniblinds and points the gun at the suspects,” Keenan said.
“They, of course, ran off.”

The victim called police, telling them a woman and two men drove away in
a green sedan with a spoiler.

A short time later, Redondo Beach police officer Don Martinez spotted
the car traveling east on Artesia Boulevard.

The driver accelerated when Martinez got behind them, but stopped in an
alley in the 2800 block of Artesia and abandoned the car.

The three tried to walk away in different directions, but Martinez
ordered them to the ground. More officers arrived and helped arrest
them.

The suspects turned out to be two women and a teenage boy.

Arrested on suspicion of attempted burglary were Lanisha Lynette
Armstrong, 20, of Compton; Shaton Shanay Nix, 20, of Long Beach and a
16-year-old boy from Compton.
Investigators suspect the trio in another daytime burglary in the Lennox
sheriff’s jurisdiction, Keenan said.

Keenan said people who are home during the day and do not answer the
door should be on alert because thieves sometimes might be checking to
see if anyone is home.