Crime & Safety

Updated: Family Tied Up in Dove Canyon Home Robbery

Three men enter a home, tie up the residents and ransack the place before leaving. No suspects yet.

Updated at 2 p.m.with new information as to why police believe it's an isolated incident.

Orange County Sheriff deputies are investigating a robbery at a Dove Canyon home in which three men tied up seven residents and ransacked the house.

The incident took place early Saturday morning, between 1:30 and 2 a.m. on Russet, a cul-de-sac just off Hillrise about 45 yards from Dove Canyon Drive.

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"The investigation is continuing, but at this point it appears to be an isolated incident," said Rancho Santa Margarita chief of police services Lt. Brian Schmutz late Sunday.

The reason police believe that is because there may be a connection between the suspects and victim.

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“Based on one of the victim’s statements, the suspect or suspects may be known to the victim," Schmutz said Monday afternoon.

According to a police report, the victim alleges that three males wearing masks and carrying knives entered the house through the back door while the family was sleeping.

The robbers taped up the family members and ransacked the house. The robbers left before police could arrive, again through the back door.

"It's unknown whether they left in a vehicle or on foot," Schmutz said. "No one was injured or assaulted. However, one of the residents, an elderly male, had a shortness of breath after it was over and was transported to the hospital for his safety as a precaution."

The police report indicated that the Dove Canyon guard gate, which is manned 24 hours a day, showed no activity in the minutes prior to the 911 call at 1:49 a.m.

A team of investigators, as well as a canine unit, responded. A helicopter searched the area but did not find any signs of the suspects.


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