Belmont Park Man Tells How Burglars Got In

The bullet whiffed by and, four to five inches away, penetrated his bedroom door.

It was after 8 a.m. Tuesday, and his wife had just left their Belmont Park home to drop their son at school.

"I was taking a shower, and heard a bump," said the man, who wants to remain unnamed because the suspects were not caught.

"I dried off and put my glasses on. I had a towel around me," he said Friday, from his Santa Ana Avenue home. "I walked into the hall and saw this guy in an oversized black hood and I said 'hey, man, what are you doing? Take off your hood.' And then two other guys ran up, like 'what's going on?' I was at the bedroom door and the guy fired ....I ran and got in the closet."

He estimated the gunman was about 27 feet away when he fired one shot, and the homeowner slammed the door, flooded with adrenalin but knowing either police or his wife would arrive soon. And they did.

Only after he heard his wife call his name did he leave the closet and grab his cell phone from the nightstand to call 9-1-1. Then he rushed to dress. His wife had returned home to find the front door open, and broken. It was locked, but the deadbolt was not on, and the wooden door is original to the older home, the victim said. It had been kicked open.

A neighbor found their purple recycling trash can rolled up to the victim's back alley wall, and figured the burglars had scouted out the yard first. Seeing no car out front--perhaps even observing a car pulling away--the intruders went to the front door, and 'busted it down," the homeowner said.

"The police told me these guys were just burglars, and had they wanted to hurt me they would have, because I was just standing there in a towel," he said. "It looks like the guy fired a shot to scare me away, so they could get away. They left with nothing."

The only description of the intruders was that they were each wearing black hoodies that effectively obscured their faces. The Long Beach Police Department is still investigating the case and has asked anyone with information about the case please call the robbery detail at (562) 570-7464.

Murders are down in the city, but some East side residents have said they were told by a police commander recently that burglaries are up. The police department, in the wake of this burglary, offered security tips for residents.

For the homeowner's part, he hopes that his close-call will mobilize people to be on guard, and he would like to see residents take volunteer patrols in decommmissioned police cars the city could donate. "We need to step it up a notch. Look, I pay taxes just like everyone else, and I wish we had more police patrols. But I've seen this done" in other cities.

"We live in a great nieghborhood. Like the police said, If your going to rob somebody your gonna go to a neighborhood that's got [electronics that are] easy to grab," the man said.

Those interested in the area's Neighborhood Watch group may email your address or cross-streets to CommunityWatchAlert@gmail.com to ensure that you fall within its boundaries, said the group's Murray Anderson.