Woodland Hills home invasion robbery leads to SWAT standoff in North Hollywood
A nearly daylong investigation into a home invasion robbery in the San Fernando Valley early Thursday led to a lengthy standoff with the potential suspects nearly 15 miles away the next day.
The initial incident began at around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday at a mansion in Woodland Hills, where police were called to Calvert Street after learning of a robbery and possible kidnapping.
Investigators remained on scene more than 17 hours after they first arrived at the home, where SkyCal spotted a duffel bag filled with what looked to be rifles next to a shattered glass door. They still haven't provided exact details on the circumstances surrounding the incident, but they say that all of the victims were found safe.
The homeowner, who spoke with CBS News Los Angeles anonymously, said that he was renting out the property to a group of five. They told him the next day that the suspects posed as police officers as they forced their way into the home on Thursday morning.
Surveillance video footage from a nearby property shows a truck pulling up outside of the home's gate before several people get out. They began to make trips back and forth from the home, only stopping once they were interrupted by a neighbor who was on his way to work. He said that he watched one of the men try to jump into the moving car while holding a garbage bag.
Hours later, CBS News Los Angeles assignment editors learned of an ongoing standoff at a rental property on King Street in North Hollywood, where multiple SWAT teams surrounded the home as they ordered people to come outside. Police said it was one of several follow-up investigations they conducted throughout the San Fernando Valley overnight.
Detectives still haven't identified the suspects or detailed what they stole from the home in Woodland Hills, if anything.
Neighbors say that the rental property has been an issue in the past, referring to a shooting that happened years ago, and some neighbors witnessed pornographic material being filmed in the backyard. One couple watched as undercover officers staked out the home for hours before they woke up to the SWAT standoff.
"We saw police officers shining flashlights into the backyard and looking for people who had jumped the fence from their yard in our yard," one of the neighbors, who wished to remain anonymous, said. They said that they found a pair of Louis Vuitton slippers in their yard after watching one of the suspects surrender to police with muddy feet.
They're hopeful that the latest incident will lead to some changes, so their neighborhood can be at peace.
"Been a sweet neighborhood for decades," one neighbor said. "It's not the type of house that belongs here, and not the type of element that belongs here."
