Korean American couple attacked, robbed

IN YET ANOTHER home invasion of an Asian business owner, an Oxford Circle man says that he and his wife were ambushed as they pulled into their back driveway Sunday night in their black Lexus.

The husband, a 42-year-old Korean American who goes by the nickname Kenny but did not want his name published, Monday showed the Daily News a home surveillance video that captured the attackers as they pounced from behind a fence, surprising the couple.

The man and his wife had just returned home from their West Philly beer-distribution business, which also sells lottery tickets.

About 7:05 p.m., the first thug rushed with a gun toward Kenny - who was walking to the other side of his car - and yelled, " 'Don't move,' " Kenny said, and took the $3,000 that Kenny had in his pocket. A number of accomplices then ran to the passenger-side door and took $4,000 from the man's wife.

The video showed six thugs wearing hooded sweatshirts. They forced the husband to open his rear basement door. Soon after, his wife was seen in the video, crawling on her knees and pushed to the door by one attacker.

After they were inside the house, on McKinley Street near Castor Avenue, a seventh assailant appeared in the driveway. When a neighbor's garage door opened, he fled.

The robbers, four with guns, were in the house for about seven minutes. They fled with about $30,000 in cash, including the $7,000 stolen outside.

In the driveway, they also took the husband's handgun, which he had on his hip and which he had a legal permit to carry.

Inside the house, the robbers kicked Kenny on the ground in his side and head and hit him four times with a gun in the back of his head. One thug said he would count down from 5 and then shoot, Kenny said. The attacker counted, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1," and Kenny told them they had already taken the couple's money outside. The thug then counted down again, and Kenny said he then told them the money was upstairs and they should "take anything."

Meanwhile, his 40-year-old Korean American wife, who had been taken to an upstairs bedroom by other attackers, had a gun pointed to her head, Kenny said.

He said he didn't get a good look at the robbers' faces because they were wearing masks, kept yelling, "Don't look at me!" and ordered him to close his eyes. He described them as African American and in their 20s.

In the video, about 7:12 p.m. a neighbor rang the couple's rear doorbell. Shortly after, the six thugs ran out the back door.

Police have a copy of the video.

Kenny said the house had been burglarized three times before, when he and his wife were not home. Less than $5,000 was taken, and no one has been arrested.

With this latest attack, Kenny and his wife plan to move.

Sunday's robbery follows a January meeting held by law-enforcement authorities with Asian Americans to warn them that some criminals have targeted Asian business owners because they believe the owners carry large sums of cash.

Deputy Police Commissioner Jack Gaittens, the department's liaison with the Asian community, said Monday that he didn't think Sunday's attack was part of a bigger trend of home-invasion attacks on Asian business owners, as had occurred in 2008 and 2010 in Philly, Delaware and Montgomery counties.

Contact Julie Shaw at 215-854-2592 or shawj@phillynews.com.