Westminster home invasion robbers escape after short police pursuit

Police are searching for three men who allegedly broke into a family’s Westminster home and held a man at gunpoint while they ransacked his bedroom early Tuesday morning, authorities announced.

According to the Westminster Police Department, a woman called 911 around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday to report that she was being robbed at her home in the 13400 block of Milan Street. Police arrived within minutes, according to a news release, and saw three men in hooded sweatshirts leaving the area in a gray van with blacked-out windows.

Officers tried to stop the vehicle and chased it in their cruiser, but the suspects got away near the intersection of Bolsa Chica Road and Westminster Boulevard, police said.

The victims told investigators that the suspects were armed with two handguns. Inside the home were a man, woman and two girls, ages 7 and 4, according to authorities. The suspects allegedly held the man at gunpoint after they went into his bedroom and asked him where he kept any money. The suspects stole several valuable items, police said.

Westminster police ask anyone with information about the home invasion to call detectives at (714) 548-3783 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) TIP-OCCS or to submit a tip online. Tipsters can remain anonymous.