FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Police Interrupt Robbery, Arrest 2

A home-invasion robbery was interrupted by police early Tuesday when one of the victims was able to phone for help before being bound and gagged.

After a chase, officers arrested two of four suspects. None of the several victims were injured, and the other two suspects remain at large, police said.

The robbery occurred about 4:45 a.m. at a home near Harbor Boulevard and Edinger Avenue, Detective Jim Perry said.

Police released few details but said one of the victims was able to get to a phone before being tied up. The emergency call was cut off but dispatchers had secured enough information--including the address--to send officers, police said.

When officers arrived, they were confronted by one of the suspects outside the house, Perry said.

Perry gave this account: Officers took cover while the robber retreated into the house. Moments later, two suspects emerged from the back of the house and fled in a vehicle. Following at high speed, police pursued the suspects through Fountain Valley. Along the way, the suspects allegedly threw out a loaded handgun as well as some of the belongings taken from the residence.

Police cut off the fleeing vehicle in the area of Edinger Avenue and Magnolia Street and detained Tong Le of Carlsbad and a 17-year-old youth whose identity was not revealed. Le is in custody at the Huntington Beach City Jail and the teen-ager was sent to Orange County Juvenile Hall, both on suspicion of residential robbery, Perry said.

Le’s bail was set at $50,000, according to jail officials.

Detective Perry said police could not reveal the names or number of the victims or how the intruders got into the house. The victims and suspects are all of Asian descent, he said.

Orange County has seen a rash of so-called home invasions since 1991. Santa Ana, Westminster and Garden Grove have recorded a majority of the robberies, during which the victims are usually bound and gagged.