Jeff here -
Regarding home invasions - Philadelphia region Asian American residents have indeed suffered more than their share of domestic terrorism. The assailants are invariably Asian themselves, youths to young adults.
A co-worker of mine who lives in the Cheltenham section told me that an Asian American family had been similarly violated by intruders within her neighborhood (incident probably happened within the past year).
The druggie on druggie variety of home invasion is quite popular. These days, druggies often just engage in arson rather than smashing into a residence, not particularly caring if children and other noncombatants burn. We had a tragic incident like that a few short weeks ago. Perhaps not having the recourse of attornies and consumer protection agencies in the illegal narcotics business encourages such rude behavior?
Having a druggie in the household endangers other family members if his/ her enemies (rival dealers, burned buyers, etc) come calling.
I have read, perhaps even in these forums, that home invading is a popular past time with the criminal element in Canada and Europe (including England). Is this confirmable?
The planned home invasion to capture control of a bank....there was such an incident a few years ago that shook up Philadelphia and attracted the much media attention. I don't think anyone was physically hurt and the crims were arrested.
Here is a similarly motivated incident, from the online version of the Philadelphia Inquirer (July 2 1999) -
Gunmen take bank staffer hostage
The pair broke into her home, where she and her family were held. She then was forced to drive to the Andorra business.
By Stephanie A. Stanley
INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF
In a brazen, well-planned heist, two masked gunmen broke into the suburban home of a bank manager early yesterday, took her and her family hostage for hours, and later forced her to drive one gunman to the bank, which he looted before fleeing with her car and the bank surveillance tape, Lower Merion police and FBI officials said.
The second gunman stayed at the woman's Belmont Hills home and continued to hold her husband and two children hostage for more than an hour. During that time, her father arrived and was also taken hostage, police said.
The gunman at the home, who was communicating with his partner on a walkie-talkie, fled moments after the robbery, leaving the family unharmed but shaken, FBI spokeswoman Adrienne Menn said.
"This shows the marks of some planning," Menn said. "They got a substantial sum from the bank." She would not say how much.
Both men remained at large late yesterday.
The bank manager, Rita Esposito, called Philadelphia police at 8:29 a.m. from Roxborough Manayunk Federal Savings Bank at 8345 Ridge Ave., in the Andorra section, where she was found handcuffed on the floor but unharmed, police said. The bank and vault doors were open. Her car, a 1994 white Ford Crown Victoria, was recovered about two miles away on the 600 block of Roxborough Avenue about 10 a.m., police said.
Calling breaking into a home and abducting a bank employee a "highly unusual" tactic, Menn said the FBI was looking for any connections the crime may have to a still-unsolved bank robbery in January that involved the abduction of a bank staffer in Springfield Township, Montgomery County.
In that robbery, two gunmen wearing wigs and fake beards broke into a Sovereign Bank employee's Wyndmoor home, taking her husband and newborn baby hostage, while one forced her to drive him to the nearby bank before it opened. As in yesterday's robbery, no one was harmed, the men were communicating by walkie-talkies, and the man at the bank fled with the employee's car.
Police said they had no indication that Esposito knew the gunmen in yesterday's robbery.
"We believe that they cased the bank," said Lower Merion Police Capt. Michael McGrath. "They knew the hours and what the people's schedules were."
Last night, police and the FBI continued to search for the men, who were wearing dark clothing, ski masks and surgical gloves and carrying small silver pistols.
Yesterday's nightmarish event began about 3:30 a.m. when Esposito and her husband, Salvatore, awoke to the lights turning on in their bedroom and saw the two masked gunmen standing above them, said Lower Merion Police Sgt. Mark Keenan.
The men, who police believe may have quietly broken in through a back door, told the couple that they were only interested in the woman because she worked at the bank, Keenan said. They said they would not harm the family if everyone cooperated, and they did not steal anything from the home.
The men then woke the children, Natalie, 13, and Salvatore Jr., 5, and gathered the family in the parents' bedroom, where they were all held at gunpoint for about 3 hours, police said. Salvatore Sr., who is an employee of Lower Merion Township, was "secured with restraints," Keenan said. He would not elaborate.
About 7 a.m., one gunman ordered Rita Esposito to drive him to the bank, where he told her to unlock the bank and vault and fill a bag with money, Lower Merion police said.
About 7:15 a.m., Rita Esposito's father, who baby-sits the children in his nearby home every weekday, arrived at the house on Rockland Avenue, police said. He was met by the remaining gunman and taken to the second-floor bedroom with the others.
A few minutes after 8 a.m., the gunman in the bank fled in Esposito's car, leaving her handcuffed on the floor and taking the tape from the bank's surveillance camera with him.
"We have no pictures," Menn said.
The Espositos' home sits atop a hill in a rowhouse neighborhood where numerous members of her tight-knit family live. Neighbors, many of whom are second- and third-generation residents of the neighborhood, described the area as a quiet place undisturbed by serious crime until yesterday.
"These are hardworking people -- very honorable people," said Ralph Sposato, a cousin. "It's shame they had to go through this."
Inquirer staff writer Herbert Lowe contributed to this report.
[This message has been edited by Jffal (edited July 04, 1999).]
