:::::::::UPDATE:::::::::::::::
Four suspects involved in Friday’s home invasion robbery of a Livingston area residence and brutal shooting of two residents were identified this weekend and are being held at Merced County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail each.
Nick L. Vidaure, 20, of Winton, Leonard M. Vidaure, 44, Donta C. Green, 28, and Roderick T. Black, 18, all of Modesto, were arrested on charges of attempted murder and robbery of an inhabited dwelling.
Leonard Vidaure also has four outstanding warrants totaling $103,000 for various narcotics violations.
The home invasion robbery happened at about 9:30 a.m. Friday when the four men 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, said Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin.
At one point, 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.
The names of the victims weren’t released as of Sunday night.
The man who was shot in the back was airlifted to a Modesto hospital and is still in critical condition, Pazin said.
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.
“We’re very fortunate that Deputy Gallagher and other officers were in the area to intercept these thugs,” Pazin said. “A few seconds later and they would have made their way to the Modesto area.”
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.
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 four suspects had been armed with two handguns and two long guns, but the weapons hadn’t yet been recovered as of Sunday night.
Pazin said that over the next few days, the department’s crime unit will interview the suspects, try to determine why the residence was targeted and find the weapons used during the home invasion robbery - which the four men could have discarded when Gallagher intercepted their car.
Though the investigation is still in its preliminary stages, Pazin said he is
“pleased with the response of our deputies and the Livingston Police Department, because these four individuals were ruthless in their crime.”
LINK
http://www.mercedsun-star.com/news/newsview.asp?c=57802