Cops Searching For Latrino Home-Invaders In GA.

[Rick Dean]

6

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwi...meinvasion.html

Man wounded during Gwinnett home invasion
Police say incident is related to recent string of robberies

By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/09/04

A man was shot early Friday during a home invasion robbery that Gwinnett County police believe is related to a recent string of similar incidents.


John Spink/AJC
Police on the scene of Friday's home invasion on Sandune Drive near Norcross.


Police sketch of suspect in home invasion robberies.

<
r>Five or six Hispanic males barged into the home in the 800 block of Sandune Drive, off Singleton Road, shortly after 5 a.m., according to Gwinnett police Cpl. Dan Huggins.

The suspects held six me


n a
gunpoint upstairs, then tied them up and ransacked the home, Huggins
said.

One of the residents, Victorino Saturnino, was taken downstairs, and was shot in the leg, Huggins said.

Saturnino, 28, was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center with wounds that Huggins said were not believed to be life-threatening. Investigators have not determined why Saturnino was shot, Huggins said.

At daybreak Friday, police were looking for a pickup truck stolen from the home.

The truck, a brown 1998 Ford F-150, has Georgia license 4825 ABF.

Detectives had not yet determined what else was taken from the home.

Huggins said investigators believe the crime, which occurred in a neighborhood east of I-85 and north of Jimmy Carter Boulevard, is related to a recent series of home inva
sion robberies in Gwinnett and Barrow counties.

Since Feb. 25, suspects described as five armed Hispanic males have barged into four homes, raped or battered the occupants and made off w
ith
cash
and jewelr
y.

 

[Rick Dean]

6

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwi...meinvasion.html

Home invasion may be tied to others

By LATEEF MUNGIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/09/04

Hours after the release of a sketch of a man police say may be a member of a home invasion crew, the thieves may have struck again.

A group of five or six Hispanic males broke into a Norcross-area home Friday morning, shot a man, and made off with a truck and other goods.

The latest incident could be connected to four recent home invasions in Gwinnett and Barrow counties in which victims
have been robbed, raped and battered, police said. In each of those unsolved cases, witnesses told police that the robbers were five Hispanic males.

Late Thursday, Gwinnett police released a composi


te
ketch of one of the robbers in the March 22 home-i
nvasion robbery in Barrow County. By 5 a.m. Friday, the Norcross-area home had become the latest target.

"We think that the timing is strictly coincidental," said Gwinnett police Cpl. Dan Huggins. "We received a few tips from the sketch, and we are checking into them."

The latest robbery occurred at a two-story home in the 800 block of Sandune Drive, off Singleton Road.

The robbers broke into the home and held six male occupants at gunpoint, Huggins said. As in all the earlier crimes, the victims were Hispanic.

The robbers then tied up the victims in the top floor of the house and ransacked the home.

At one point, the robbers took one of the residents, Victorino Saturnino, downstairs and shot
him in the leg, Huggins said.

Saturnino, 28, was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center with wounds that were not life-threatening, Huggins said. Investigators said they don't know why Sa
turn
ino
was shot,
Huggins said.

Police also are trying to determine what items the robbers stol
e.

"The suspects demanded money, but it is not clear if they received any," Huggins said.

The robbers stole a truck from the home and fled the area.

As of Friday afternoon, police were still searching for the vehicle. The truck, a brown 1998 Ford F-150, has Georgia license 4825 ABF.

Police say the Friday crime closely mirrors other recent home invasion robberies.

On Feb. 25, five armed men broke into a Lawrenceville-area home, stole cash and a car, and sexually assaulted two female residents.

On March 5, five armed men broke into another Lawrenceville-area home and stole cash and jewelry.

On March 22, a family in Barrow County was the target of a hom
e invasion by five men, police said.

On March 29, five armed men broke into a Duluth home, tied up the occupants and made off with money, jewels and a truck.

Fidela Fi
majos, 5
2, live
s on the street w
here the latest home invasion occurred. Fimajos said she heard about the other crimes and was shocked that the ho
me invaders have now stuck so close to her home.

"It is so scary," Fimajos said. "It could have been my home. And I have kids."

Police have stepped up patrols in the areas where the home invasions occurred, Huggins said. They have re-interviewed victims in the other crimes.

An interview with a victim of the March 22 robbery helped police create a composite sketch of one of the invaders.

According to police, the person shown in the composite is a Hispanic male with short blondish hair and dark-colored roots.

The man's hair is parted in the middle and he has a mustache, a partial beard and a goatee.

The man also ha
s a hoop earring in his right ear, a scar or a tattoo on his right cheek and a tattoo on the left side of his neck. The man has a stocky build and is in his mid-30s, polic
e said.


The rob
bers in the latest home i
nvasion wore masks, making it difficult for the victims to say whether any of them resembled the police sketch, Huggins said.

The crimes have p
ut many in Gwinnett on edge and have prompted concerns within the Hispanic community.

After the March 29 crime, the Norcross-based Spanish weekly newspaper La Voz del Pueblo announced that the paper would begin covering crime news for the first time.

Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call Gwinnett police at 770-513-5300.