2 masked teens break into Healdsburg home, assault middle-aged man

Healdsburg police are investigating a break-in and assault at a Healdsburg home just before 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Police said, in a news release Thursday, that two masked teens broke into a home,  assaulted a middle-aged man inside the home and left on foot. The teens were described as white or Hispanic males, ages 15 to 19 years old.

Nothing was taken from the home and residents told police they had no large amounts of money, drugs or jewelry that might have been a motive for the break-in, said Healdsburg Police Sgt. John Haviland.

"Usually with these types of home invasions, there are large amounts of money or drugs involved," Haviland said. "But they're saying they had no narcotics, no large amounts of money and it's not a [marijuana] grow house -- as we've had in the past."

Haviland said the man, in his mid-50s, was one of six people -- including three adults and three children -- inside the home on Sparrow Court when the incident occurred. It was not immediately clear if the man was the children's father, Haviland said.

According to Haviland, the man confronted the intruders as they came inside and was hit by their hands or weapons they were carrying in their hands, he said. The man received minor injuries and was taken to Healdsburg District Hospital, where he was treated and released, Haviland said.

One of the teens appeared to be carrying a handgun or a replica of a handgun, and the other had a machete-type knife, Haviland said. They apparently gained entry through an unlocked outside door, Haviland said.

"The house was not secured," he said. "They were part-way into the house before anyone knew they were inside -- they kind of met [the man] in the entryway."

Haviland said the last home invasion incident in Healdsburg was in October 2009, and involved drugs, he said. Three people were convicted in that case and are serving jail time, he said.

Havilland said such home invasions are not random.

"They definitely were at that house looking for something specific, or they had the wrong address," he said. "Around here, unlike in urban areas, they are almost always looking for something specific."

Healdsburg detectives were interviewing witnesses and doing extensive investigation on Thursday, Haviland said.