Chelmsford couple are tied up in 2d robbery attempt at home

CHELMSFORD -- Chelmsford police arrested one suspect and were searching for another after the armed pair allegedly broke into a house on a quiet cul-de-sac Monday night and tied up a husband and wife during a robbery attempt, the second such break in at the home, police said.

Neighbors called police after hearing an alarm at the house on Hollow Ridge Road about 10:15 p.m., Deputy Chief Scott R. Ubele said in a telephone interview yesterday.

One suspect was backing out of the driveway in the residents' sport utility vehicle when he saw a police cruiser approaching, Ubele said.

The suspect drove the SUV through the backyard, then fired one gunshot at the officer while running into nearby woods, Ubele said.

While the first suspect fled, Sambath Yan, 22, of Lowell kicked out a second-floor screen, jumped onto the roof and then into the backyard, where he was arrested at gunpoint, Ubele said.

He is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing tomorrow.

Yan, who was allegedly wearing a nylon mask, black leather gloves, and carrying a loaded semiautomatic handgun, was arraigned yesterday in Lowell District Court on charges including armed assault, kidnapping, and home invasion, according to Corey Welford, spokesman for the Middlesex district attorney.

The husband had a bump on his head, but otherwise he and his wife were not harmed during the robbery, Ubele said.

The couple's teenage son, who was probably asleep at the time, did not encounter the suspects, Ubele said.

Investigators do not know if the victims knew the suspects, Ubele said.

The couple, whom authorities would only identify as the owners of a jewelry store in Lowell, were also tied up during a home invasion at the same house in 1997, Ubele said.

"We don't believe this was a random act," said Ubele. The chief said he did not know if anyone was arrested or if anything was stolen from the house in 1997, because he had not yet reviewed detectives' files on the case.

"This was a target they chose for a reason, and we're trying to get to the bottom of it," he said. "We're investigating whether or not this is gang- related."

Police are focusing their investigation on finding the second suspect, Ubele said.

The suspects were "rummaging through the house trying to steal whatever valuables they could find," Ubele said.

It was not yet known whether the suspect who fled made off with any valuables, Ubele said.