FAKE UNDERCOVER COPS ROB, TIE UP LOCAL FAMILY.

Byline: RICK COCA

Staff Writer

SUN VALLEY -- Five men posing as undercover police officers tied up residents, ransacked a home and stole a sedan Monday morning, authorities said.

The men, described as Latinos ages 40 to 50 and dressed in business attire, pulled up to the home in the 8600 block of Sharp Avenue about 8:30 a.m. in a 1984 or 1985 Chevrolet van.

One of the robbers approached a man as he was preparing to get into his car to drive to work and demanded his wallet, said Officer Mike Lopez, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.

The man refused, and the robber forced him back into the home at gunpoint through a back door. The gunman then let his cohorts in through the front door, Lopez said.

The man's sister, who was in the house along with her three children, was coming out of the bathroom when she was confronted by one of the robbers.

A plasma television, a computer, a microwave and about $800 in cash were among the things stolen, Lopez said.

Some of the robbers stole the man's black four-door 1996 Nissan Maxima, license plate number 4RIF738, and left in it. The others left in the van.

Anyone with information can call North Hollywood Division detectives at [phone].

rick.coca(at)dailynews.com

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