Two men plead no contest to violent Fresno home-invasion robbery

Two defendants pleaded no contest Thursday to a bungled home-invasion robbery near Fresno City College in January 2012 that lead police to shoot a third suspect.

In a plea agreement, Rene Andres Bon, 29, will be sentenced to 16 years in prison, defense attorney Robert Lamanuzzi said. Juan Ramirez Diaz, 33, will be sentenced to 10 years, defense attorney Eric Green said. Bon will receive more prison time because he was armed during the home-invastion robbery, while Diaz was unarmed, Lamanuzzi said.

Bon and Diaz will be sentenced Sept. 25 in Fresno County Superior Court.

Police said a third suspect, 32-year-old Bulldog gang member Octavio Joel Angulo, was shot by police after he pointed a 9mm handgun at an officer as he tried to run away from the house. Angulo, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, was shot seven times in the lower body. Angulo managed to attend several court hearings, including his preliminary hearing. But he later got extremely ill in jail and died, Green said.

Court records say the court learned of Angulo’s death in January 2013. Though he was shot several times, it’s unclear whether the police shooting led directly to his death, Green said.

The home-invasion robbery happened Jan. 17, 2012. Police said a couple and their three children — ages 2, 4 and 7 — were home at the time of the break-in.

In an interview after the home invasion occurred, Capt. Dennis Bridges said the three men came to the home on East Cambridge Avenue, west of Blackstone Avenue, just before 6 a.m. armed with guns, two-way radios and plastic ties that were to be used to bind hostages. The suspects had a bolt-cutter to cut a lock off a gate, then kicked in a side door to the home.

Bridges said the robbers punched and kicked the mother. The father, however, got away and ran to a nearby Jack in the Box on Blackstone Avenue to call for help.

By the time officers arrived, the bandits had stacked a flat-screen TV and some luggage near the door of the home. There also was jewelry scattered around the home and the yard, Bridges said.

Diaz, who was the lookout, tried to drive away, but was stopped down the street. Police found a shotgun in the car.

Police shot Angulo after he ran through an opening in the backyard fence where several slats were missing.

Bon, who was wearing a ski mask, was found hiding in a backyard several houses away.

This story was originally published August 6, 2015 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Two men plead no contest to violent Fresno home-invasion robbery."