Mom with child braces herself against bathroom door, holds off home-invasion robbers
A woman shut herself into a bathroom with her young child and held off home-invasion robbers who demanded money and jewelry from her Tuesday morning, Modesto police reported.
The 11 a.m. incident began when the southwest Modesto resident noticed on her video security monitor that her front screen door was open, when it’s normally shut and locked, Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said Wednesday morning. The woman went to close the door when she saw a female outside, who said she needed to use a phone.
The woman said she didn’t have a phone, and closed the door, Bear said. At that point, the female began yelling at her, and a couple more people came into view.
As the robbers were forcing their way into the house on the 1800 block of Chesapeake Avenue, southwest of West Hatch and Ustick roads, the resident ran with her child into the master bedroom and locked the door. They then went into the bathroom and shut that door.
Robbers forced their way into the master bedroom, Bear said, and then tried to get into the bathroom. But the woman braced her feet against the door, so the most the robbers did was open it a bit before she pushed it closed again. They yelled at her through the door, demanding money and jewelry, Bear said. During this time, the resident called 911.
Her call to 911 resulted in a police response that captured the six Bay Area residents suspected in the home invasion. The six include three young adults and three juveniles.
Officers encountered one person right away. Jhordan Spain, 20, was standing by a gold van parked in front of the house. He acted to officers like he had no idea there was a crime being committed, Bear said. Officers saw a couple of other people walking away from the home. As backup arrived, they saw people begin to run from the area.
A containment perimeter was set up and the five other suspects were taken into custody. They are Lucia Gomez, 19; Anthony Hickman, 18; a 16-year-old female, a 16-year-old male and a 14-year-old male. All six are from communities in the Bay Area, Bear said.
Stolen from the home were 40 pounds of marijuana and jewelry that included a couple of rings and several watches. Some of the property was near the van, some was inside it and some was near the side of the victims’ home, Bear said. Also found on the ground in the area were a replica handgun and a real one, she said.
The marijuana was seized because it exceeded the legal amount that can be claimed for personal use.
The suspects face charges of first-degree robbery of an inhabited dwelling, burglary, conspiracy to commit crime and, because a child was in the home, willful cruelty to a child. “Spain has an additional charge of resisting arrest,” Bear said. “He tried to get out of his cuffs and was not cooperative when they had to undo him and recuff him after he pulled his leg through and got tangled up.”
The jail custody log shows the adults being held on $100,000 bail.
This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 8:08 AM.
