Salt Lake police looking for assailants in home invasion

Salt Lake police were looking Wednesday for three men involved in a home-invasion robbery.

Just after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, three men wearing dark clothing and hoodies approached a man outside a house near 1500 E. Harvard Ave. (1175 South).

The trio asked the man if "Todd" lived at the house, said Salt Lake Police Sgt. Robin Snyder. The man indicated he didn't, and both parties appeared to walk their separate ways, she said.

One of the men ran up to the victim, however, after he turned to walk back into the house, pulled out a gun, hit the man in the back of his head and pushed him back into the house, Snyder said.

All of the assailants were armed. They rounded up the occupants of the house — four men all in their early 20s — and forced them to give up their money and wallets, Snyder said.

The victims were then taken into the kitchen, forced to lay face down on the floor and were assaulted, she said. They suffered minor injuries to their heads, backs and arms.

The assailants continued going through the house, taking laptops, cell phones and gaming systems before leaving.

The incident was the second home invasion in two days in Salt Lake in which three men were involved.

On Monday, three men forced their way into a house near 300 South and 1400 West. A female victim in that incident was taken to the hospital in serious condition after being beaten with a baseball bat.

Snyder said detectives do not know if the two incidents are related.

Pat Reavy