Husband, wife handcuffed in Rio Oso home invasion

A husband and wife were handcuffed during a home invasion robbery Friday morning that netted guns, cash and marijuana in Rio Oso, the Sutter County Sheriff's Department said.

The masked robbers pulled up in three vehicles, including a white Ford Excursion, behind the husband's vehicle at about 9:15 a.m. as he drove to his home in the 2700 block of Rio Oso Road.

Fabian and Lourdes Lemus were not injured, deputies said.

"They probably heard through the grapevine this guy is growing," Detective Michael Gwinnup said.

Six to eight people fled west on Rio Oso Road, making off with undetermined amounts of cash and marijuana and three or four shotguns, officials said.

Only the couple were at the home in the sparsely populated rural area.

Fabian Lemus, 49, told the Appeal-Democrat that he uses medical marijuana.

"Somebody told these guys I grow marijuana," he said.

The man said the robbers had handguns and were at his home for about 40 minutes. He said "not much" cash was taken.

A neighbor who declined to give her name said she's lived in Rio Oso for 13 years and had once resided at the home where the robbery took place.

"That's scary," she said of the home invasion. "That's pretty brazen."

The woman, asked about marijuana growing in the neighborhood, said, "When people put up fences, who knows?"

"I didn't go over there and look," she said.

CONTACT Ryan McCarthy at rmccarthy@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4780. Find him on Facebook at /ADrmccarthy or on Twitter at @ADrmccarthy.