3 Bronx men held in home invasion

By Richard Liebson
March 7, 2008

WHITE PLAINS - For several terrifying minutes Wednesday night, Maria Sanchez watched helplessly as two armed intruders held a gun to her 13-year-old son's head.

"He opened the door and they got him with a gun," she said. "The two guys got him and I screamed."

Not knowing what was happening, Sanchez went downstairs to help her son, while her daughter, Stephanie Sanchez, 18, locked herself in an upstairs bathroom of their 20 Coolidge Ave. home and called 911. Meanwhile, the gunmen ushered mother and son to an upstairs bedroom, ordering them to keep their eyes on the floor and demanding money.

"He said, 'Don't look at me, look at the floor,' and he had the gun on my head," Maria Sanchez said. "He kept asking me, 'Where is the money? Where is the money?' I said, 'No money, no money.' "

In the bathroom, Stephanie Sanchez said she was on the phone with police when she heard the men "screaming, 'Where is the money? I'm going to kill you.' "

The next thing she heard was a siren as White Plains police raced to the neighborhood. The gunmen then ran out the back door. A massive manhunt followed involving police from White Plains, Greenburgh, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Westchester County. A county helicopter flooded the normally quiet middle-class neighborhood with light while MTA, county and Greenburgh police dogs searched the streets.

Within moments, White Plains police apprehended Juan Polanco, 29, of 150 W. Burnside Ave., the Bronx, and recovered his .45-caliber handgun. A short time later, Carlos Mercado, 27, of 1550 Selwyn Ave., the Bronx, was caught by "Hero," one of the police dogs. Police also seized Mercado's .40-caliber handgun. A third suspect, Leoncio Sosa, 27, of 2174 Clinton Ave., the Bronx, who apparently fled the scene in a white van, turned himself in shortly after noon yesterday, police said.

"The family acted very well," White Plains Public Safety Commissioner Frank Straub said during a news conference yesterday held to announce the arrests. "They stayed calm, and the daughter secured herself in the bathroom and called 911. She stayed on the line and kept us informed of what was happening."

Straub said at least one of the would-be robbers knew the family but would not elaborate.

"I want to be very clear," he said. "This was not a random act. One subject knew that there could be cash in the house because of the nature of the family business, which involves ATM machines."

The Sanchez family also owns three bodegas and a laundromat, they said.

Straub credited the arrests to a quick police response - the first officers arrived at the scene two minutes after police received the 911 call - and cooperation from the other law enforcement agencies.

"The only thing that could have gone better was if it didn't happen at all,'' he said.

All three men have been charged with first-degree burglary, a felony. Polanco and Mercado have also been hit with a felony count of criminal possession of a weapon. They were being held without bail yesterday, awaiting arraignment in White Plains City Court. Straub said the weapons seized will undergo ballistics tests and be traced by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to try to determine whether they've been used in other crimes.

The Sanchez family say they're still shaken up by the incident but grateful that they got through the ordeal unscathed.

"Thank God the cops got here right away," Stephanie Sanchez said. "The cops got here, and (the gunmen) ran right out of the house."

Reach Richard Liebson at rliebson@lohud.com or 914-694-3534.

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