VALINDA — Three masked men struck and woman and a man with a shovel during a home-invasion robbery at a family’s home early Friday, officials said.
Family members heard a noise coming from their back door about 2:45 a.m. at their house in the 17100 block of Francisquito Ave., Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Arthur Scott said.
A 42-year-old woman went to investigate the sound when she was confronted by three Asian men wearing ski masks, Scott said. One was armed with a rifle, and another held a shovel.
“She opened sliding door and got attacked with a shovel,” Scott said. The robbers then forced there way into the home and struck another resident, a 17-year-old boy, in the back with the shovel.
The robbers roused two other residents — a 43-year-old woman and an 8-year-old girl — from bed and ordered them to lie down with the other two victims in the front of the home, the lieutenant said.
“One suspect held them at gunpoint while the others went through the house,” Scott said. “They were in there about 15 minutes before they fled.”
It was not yet clear what may have been stolen from the ransacked house, he added.