Police Question 'Person of Interest' in Scenic Avenue Home Invasion Robbery

Police have recovered a black Pontiac Sunfire used in a home invasion robbery on Scenic Avenue last week and have questioned a "person of interest" in connection with the crime, but no arrests have been made to date, Piedmont Police Department Detective George Phifer said today.

Phifer said the robbery began about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 12, when three black male adults approached a young man who was retrieving a pair of sunglasses from his vehicle, parked in front of his parents' home in the 100 block of Scenic.

One of the robbers held a gun to the victim's head and forced him up some steps and into the house, Phifer said.

Once inside, the trio of robbers located the victim's parents and corraled the three residents in one room, Phifer said. One robber remained with the victims, while the other two ransacked the house and took items that included jewelry, computers and cell phones, he said.

A neighbor noticed the the robbers leaving the house and driving away in the late 1990s Pontiac, which was parked down the block, Phifer said. The neighbor jumped in his own car and followed the robbers until he could read the license number, he said.

The neighbor also called 911 and Piedmont police were able to locate and follow the robbers' car until losing sight of it near Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Phifer said.

Police later found the car parked in Oakland and have photographed it and collected fingerprints, Phifer said.

The Pontiac had been recently purchased from a used car lot and the registration still showed the lot as the owner, he said. However, the car did help lead police to what Phifer described as a "person of interest," who has been questioned.

None of the victims was injured during the robbery, Phifer said.

He said the robbers were described as African American men in their early 20s to age 30, one wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt.

Two of the robbers carried handguns, one described as silver in color and the other as dark with a silver barrel, Phifer said. At least one of the guns appeared to be a semi-automatic, he said. 

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