San Francisco sees 4th home invasion in 4 days

Photo: Google Maps Armed assailants held two San Francisco residents at gunpoint on...

Five men, one with a handgun, held up two San Francisco residents late Monday in Visitacion Valley — the fourth home invasion robbery in the city since Friday, police said Tuesday.

Officers responded to the unit block of Ervine Street shortly before 9 p.m. The suspects, described as being in their late teens or early 20s, had ordered the victims — a young man and woman — to lie facedown while they ransacked the home, then made off with a firearm and two mobile phones, officials said. No one was injured.

The robbery came after three people were injured in three daytime home invasions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, an unusual outburst of a traumatizing crime that made up less than 1 percent of all robberies and burglaries in the city last year. Police have not connected the four attacks.

On Sunday, an intruder punched a sleeping 55-year-old woman in the stomach and head after breaking into her home on the 300 block of Buchanan Street in the Lower Haight. Another man taped the woman’s mouth shut while the pair ransacked her apartment, stealing her money stashed in her closet, police said. The woman was treated for injuries at the scene.

The previous day, an 85-year-old man answered a doorbell around 7:30 a.m. at his home that he shared with a 79-year-old woman on Amethyst Way in Diamond Heights. No one was at the door, but when the man went back upstairs, he came face to face with an intruder who forced the residents to lead him to their valuables, police said.

The assailant grabbed money, a tablet, a phone, a computer and jewelry before jumping into a waiting car. Another suspect stole the victim’s car, police said. The victim complained of pain from the attack.

The series of robberies began around 8:15 a.m. Friday when police said a knife-wielding woman, described as in her 30s, rang the doorbell of a home on the 100 block of Farallones Street in the Ocean View neighborhood.

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The woman forced her way into the home and made the 26-year-old female resident give up her jewelry, cell phones and money. The assailant then sat the woman on a chair, covered her head with a towel and tied her up with extension cords, police said. The victim had a scraped forehead after the attack but declined treatment.

No arrests have been made in any of the home invasions. Officer Grace Gatpandan, a police spokeswoman, said the cases would be investigated separately.

Last year, 69 home invasion robberies were reported in San Francisco, a decrease from the 78 reported in 2013, according to police data.

Vivian Ho and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: vho@sfchronicle.com, esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo, @EvanSernoffsky