Intruders bind couple, grab cash, jewels & car

The two men crept into the back yard of a home on a cozy block of Unruh Avenue near Whitaker, in the Northeast, at 6 a.m. yesterday, propping a ladder they found against the house to gain access to a second-floor window.

Once inside, the pair used duct tape to bind a middle-aged Asian-American couple as chaos consumed their two-story home, police said.

"We know you have money," one of the men told the 46-year-old male victim, police said. "Where's the money? Give us the money."

The bandits fled the scene with $5,200 cash, $50,000 worth of jewelry, a 2010 Toyota Corolla, two laptops and a camcorder, police said.

During the robbery, one of the intruders hit the male homeowner on the head with a pistol after he at first refused a demand to open a safe in the basement. When the second man entered the basement and saw the owner's bloody head, he chastised his accomplice.

"You shouldn't be hurting these people," the man said, according to police. "What are you doing?"

The victim was taken to to Aria Health's Torresdale hospital. His wife, 43, and their 3-year-old granddaughter were uninjured.

It is unclear what the two men knew about the family and their possessions, said Northeast Detectives Capt. John McGinnis.

"They knew they were Asian and had money," McGinnis said. "Some Asians don't use banks. I think it's an assumption."

Unlike the string of home invasions this month involving Asian-American business owners, this family did not own a business. Police said that the homeowner is disabled and can't work and that his wife doesn't work.

"Everybody is scared," said a next-door neighbor who declined to give his name. "That situation . . . nobody wanted that."

The neighbor said that the male victim pounded on his door after the incident and asked him to call 9-1-1.

Yesterday afternoon, two women sat staring solemnly out a window of the home while a reporter approached. A young female who answered the door said that everyone was fine.

Residents said that there have been a few car break-ins in the area but that a home invasion was an entirely different cause for alarm.

"I'm scared," said Lan, 50, who lives at Unruh Avenue and Pennway Street. "Before, was very good."