Home Invasion Robbers Steal 2 Motorcycles Worth $1.5 M From Bel Air Estates Home
BEL AIR (CBS) — Officials say two home invasion robbers kicked in the front door of a Bel Air Estates home, tied up a husband and threatened his wife, before making off with two rare motorcycles with a combined value of $1.5 million.
Police said the incident occurred around 4:30 a.m. at a home in the 900 block of Linda Flora Drive, on a hilltop street above Sunset and Sepulveda Boulevards.
"Two males kicked open the victim's front door," Los Angeles police said in a report. "The husband and his wife were awakened by the noise."
Officer Rosario Herrera wrote that when the husband got up to investigate the noise, the suspects confronted him, took him into another bedroom and tied him up.
"The suspects also confronted the man's wife and told her to stay in the bed."
The wife later fled and ran to a next door neighbor's home.
Louisa Hodge, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, spoke to neighbor Anne Lesser who says she was awakened by her neighbor yelling for help outside her front door. "There was a woman screaming, 'Call 911, call 911!'"
Lesser has lived next door to the couple for six years and believe they were targeted. She says the owner often shows the vintage bikes publicly; most recently at the Beverly Hills Car Show.
The suspects took two motorcycles, worth more than $1.5 million, and fled the scene, Herrera said. One of the bikes was a 1914 Cyclone and a vintage 1952 Honda, a racing bike.
The bikes were the only thing taken from the home, according to officials.
Descriptions of the two suspects were unavailable.
Shaken, the couple escaped unharmed.
Lesser said neighbors are considering new safety measures. "We used to think we didn't need 24-hour security. But ... maybe now we do."
Police urged anyone with information regarding this robbery to contact West Los Angeles robbery detective Alan Behnke at (310) 444-1540 or 1-877-LAPD-24-7.
(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)