A grandmother told police that four masked men dressed in black, one of them armed, burst into her apartment at 160 West St. early yesterday and robbed her of about $400 in cash.
The woman said she was in her room watching television shortly before 1 a.m. when she heard a loud bang. When she got up to see what was going on, she was confronted by the four men – one pf whom pointed a gun at her, police Detective Carlos Cueva wrote in his report.
“They forced her back in her room and demanded she give them money and anything else. She then directed the suspects to a sock drawer and told them she had some money in there,” the detective wrote.
The incident was the second reported home invasion in less than three hours. A 56-year-old man who lives in the basement at 263 Jackson St. said he was beaten by three masked men dressed in black, two of them armed with guns, who forced their way into his home at about 10:30 p.m. Friday.
Lawrence police Chief John Romero said investigators don’t know whether the incidents are related. Police don’t have any suspects in the two cases, as the victims said they didn’t recognize their assailants.
“We’re still investigating,” Romero said last night.
In the West Street incident, the grandmother said the intruders took about $400 from the sock drawer. The woman said the men also robbed some cell phones before leaving.
The woman’s 13-year-old grandson told police he was playing a video game when the masked men broke down the front door and entered the apartment. The boy’s mother was also in the house at the time of the incident.
In the Jackson Street incident, the victim told police that he was in bed watching television when somebody knocked on his door. When he opened the door, three men rushed in. Two of them held black handguns and the other one brandished a large knife, Detective Cueva wrote in his report.
“The victim was struck in the head and fell to the floor where they continued to strike him,” the detective wrote.
“They demanded money from the victim who was telling them he did not have money, that he was on disability,” he said.
The intruders went to the other apartment in the basement and forced their way in. The tenant was not home at the time.
“In that room, all the ceiling tiles were moved and pulled out and all his clothes in the closet were pulled out and appeared to be searched through,” Cueva noted in his report.
The man who was beaten said he got up from the floor where he had passed out and ran out the back door screaming for help, he told police.
“At that time the males chased him out the door and again began to assault him. They then ran out the back yard which leads right to Berkeley Street and soon after other people who live in the apartments above his came out to see what was going,” Cueva wrote in his report.
The house is famous for its unique architecture which is the harmonious combination of Vietnamese, French and Chinese styles. It is the place that witnessed the romantic love between Marguerite Duras, a well-known French writer, and Huynh Thuy Le, the son of the Huynh Family who is the house’s owner.
When we arrived at the house, we meet Australian tourists who were listening to the tourist guide’s architectural value and the love between the house’s owner and writer Marguerite Duras. The bustling atmosphere in Sa Dec in the late afternoon reminded all of us of the animated scene at the wharf on the Tien River in the past.
The house was built using precious wood in 1895. Its roof is covered by Yin-Yang tiles and designed with two curved ends in the shape of boats, a familiar symbol of the watery area in the south-western region. In 1917, Huynh Cam Thuan, father of Huynh Thuy Le reconstructed the house in the style of a French villa with a harmony of both Oriental and Western architecture.
The outside of the house improves visitors with the French architectural style that used decorative details, such as statues and relief from the Renaissance on the facade and arched doors in the Roman style and Gothic windows of multi-colored glass. All provide the house with a magnificent and imposing appearance. Going inside, tourists have a familiar feeling because of the Oriental architectural style that is clearly seen through skillful and refined patterns and sculptures in the shapes of birds, flowers, plants, daisies, bamboo and apricots. There are beautiful spots and scenes carved on woo that reflect the bustling life in the watery area in South Viet Nam. The house consists of three compartments with the middle one used for worshiping Guangong according to the religious belief the Chinese and two others for receiving guests and for bedrooms. The corridor of the house leads to the servants’ quarters. The floor was paved with flowered tiles and the walls were built with solid brick, 30-40 languages and it was made into a film of the same named by French Director Jean Jacques Annaud in 1992. The film has left a resounding impression on viewers all around the world.
The move famous that the novel and film become, the larger the number of foreign tourists who want to visit the house grows. Over the years, the house has become a popular destination, fascinating tourists from France, the US, Australia, Japan, South Korea and the UK.
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