Two shot in robbery
Saturday, May 10, 2003
By Mike Jensen - Merced Sun-Star
A home invasion robbery Friday morning in the Livingston area landed two men in local hospitals with gunshot wounds and four men in the custody of the Merced County Sheriff’s Department.
One robbery victim is in critical condition.
The incident happened at about 9:30 a.m. when four men, described as Hispanic and black, entered a home in the 11500 block of Atwater Jordan Road.
The suspects tied up a man and woman at the residence and then began searching for money and valuables, according to Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin.
At one point during the ordeal, another man, who lives in the residence, arrived and was confronted by the suspects.
When he tried to get away, he was shot “a couple times” in the back, Pazin said.
Eventually the four men decided there was nothing of value in the home and left. But before doing so, they shot the other man, who was already bound, in one of his thighs.
“These are just real cutthroat individuals,” said Pazin.
The names of the victims weren’t released Friday.
The man who was shot in the back was airlifted to a Modesto hospital and was in critical condition, Pazin said.
The man who received the gunshot wound to his leg was taken by ambulance to a Merced hospital and the injury was not considered life-threatening, Pazin said.
At the scene Friday, the woman who’d been a victim in the robbery was picked up by her mother and sister.
She appeared uninjured, as did an 8-month-old baby she carried.
The woman and her relatives declined to comment on what had happened.
At the newer-looking home Friday, two gray shoes and an overturned barbecue were visible in the driveway.
Investigators had sealed off the crime scene with yellow tape and were looking for evidence.
Pazin said the man who’d been shot in the thigh was able to help the woman get free. She then used a cell phone to call 911.
Merced County Sheriff’s Deputy Vince Gallagher responded to the call and was involved in a car chase with the suspects, who were driving an Oldsmobile Cutlass.
Conflicting reports were cited Friday about what happened next, but the four men either abandoned the car in an orchard or struck a canal berm before fleeing on foot.
According to Undersheriff Bill Blake, the first three suspects were caught within an hour after fleeing the scene, and the fourth suspect was caught at about 2 or 2:30 p.m.
The first suspect had been hiding in a ditch. When the area was surrounded, he surrendered to a Livingston Police Department officer.
The second suspect was found hiding in a standpipe and a third suspect was found trying to blend in with farm workers.
The fourth suspect, caught later in the afternoon, was found hiding in another standpipe.
Blake said the four suspects had been armed with two handguns and two long guns, but the weapons hadn’t yet been recovered.
Pazin said the four men had been less than cooperative and so their names weren’t being released.
“At this point in the investigation, we are unsure of their identities and won’t release them until we are 100 percent positive,” he said.
