"Tell your dad to cooperate, or I'll hurt you," the bandit said. "Give me the money."
And the family did, Lee said, handing over to four armed and masked bandits $3,000 in cash from Jei Lee's wallet and $23,000 saved by Lee's aunt in her room upstairs.
In all, the four men escaped with $26,000, a computer owned by Lee's brother, the family's jewelry, and a 52-inch TV. The men were described by police as wearing dark clothing with white or black-and-white bandannas, with two more than six feet tall.
Jei Lee, who works at a dry cleaners in Wayne, was pistol-whipped by one of the intruders and was bleeding profusely from a scalp wound when officers arrived, his daughter said. He required treatment at a nearby hospital, but was able to work Thursday.
John Chin, executive director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp., said Thursday that Asian American business people were being targeted by criminals, and that the activity seems to run in cycles.
"I'm not sure why they come in spurts, but they do, and it's unfortunate. Part of the pattern is that the criminals follow the merchants home," he said.
Investigators spent from 3:37 until 9 a.m. Wednesday processing the house, but could find few clues because the intruders wore gloves, Lee said.
Police Sgt. Andrew J. Block, of the Radnor investigations unit, said by e-mail Thursday that no arrests had been made. No one saw a fleeing vehicle, Block said, and the TV had not turned up.
He said that officers were trying to learn if the family was targeted because it is Asian. All four robbers were described as African American.
But Lisa Lee said she had been told by police that the businesses her two uncles own - a dry cleaners at 15 W. Seventh St. in Chester, and Brewers Outlet, a beer distributor at 48th and Spruce Streets - may have been the link.
