POLICE SAY POT PLANTS LED TEENS TO INVADE HOME

Member Of Famed Barrymore Family In Hospital Following Brain Surgery After
Mtn. View Attack

It was the rumored treasure of marijuana plants growing in the Mountain View
home of John Barrymore III that started the whole thing, investigators
believe.

Arming themselves with a sock containing a heavy metal trailer hitch, a
group of teenagers from around the South Peninsula planned the home invasion
of the 47-year-old scion of the famous acting family, according to police.
They poured out of a Volkswagen and struck Wednesday afternoon.

Two days later, two teenage suspects were shackled in a Palo Alto court,
facing attempted murder and other felony charges, and the rest were in
juvenile lockup. Barrymore was in Stanford University Medical Center after
six hours of brain surgery. He is expected to live. His wife, Rebecca, was
at home, recovering from her injuries, reliving the attack over and over in
her mind.

``We are lucky to be alive,'' she told the Mercury News. ``My God, I think
they wanted to kill us.''

So far, only two invasion suspects have been officially charged in Superior
Court. Michael Anthony Jordan, 17, of Santa Clara, who allegedly bludgeoned
Barrymore and his wife with the ``slung shot,'' faces life in prison.
Jordan, a minor who will be tried as an adult, is being held on $5 million
bail. Jeremy Solito, 18, of San Jose, is a suspected accomplice and lookout.
He is being held on $1 million bail.

They are both due back in court Wednesday.

Jordan's family, outside court, said he had told them he was involved with
the robbery but had never intended to hurt anyone. The ``weapon,'' they
said, was meant to be used to break into a garage, where the marijuana
plants were growing.

``He's just a kid,'' said Lisette Franco, his mother. ``My son is not a
killer. He didn't know who these people were.''

Solito's family declined to comment.

The other suspects were being held in juvenile court. Their identities were
not released, but they include a 17-year-old from Mountain View, a
17-year-old from Stockton, and a 16- and 17-year-old from Los Altos.

And the marijuana?

Mountain View police seized about 100 plants from the Barrymore home and are
investigating.

Rebecca Barrymore said the plants are medically prescribed to relieve her
husband's chronic migraines -- illegal under federal law, but state law
allows patients with a doctor's recommendation to grow small amounts for
personal use.

Investigators believe the Barrymores' teenage son may have bragged in school
about the marijuana.

``Let's go jack this guy whose got, like, 30 plants,'' a witness claims
Jordan said before the invasion.

The group pulled up in a Volkswagen around 1 p.m. Wednesday and knocked on
the door, according to court records, testimony and Rebecca Barrymore's
account.

Rebecca Barrymore answered the door. The youths asked for her son. He was at
school, she told them. Shouldn't they be?

They went away.

Five minutes later, they knocked again. John Barrymore answered the door.

They again asked for the son. But this time, Jordan allegedly came from
behind Barrymore and said, ``We are here about the `bomb' '' -- street slang
for marijuana. Then he swung the sock. It thudded against Barrymore's head
and he fell. Jordan kept hitting and kicking him, according to police.
Rebecca Barrymore said she came running at her husband's moans, and Jordan
chased her throughout her home as he struck her again and again with the
weapon.

When she fell unconscious in a pool of blood, the youths fled.

Police, called to the home when the Barrymores regained consciousness,
arrested three of the suspects, who were still nearby.

Rebecca Barrymore said she suspects that one of the teens was someone who
had robbed the family before, of prescription drugs and antiques owned by
John Barrymore Sr. -- a matinee actor in the 1920s and '30s.

Victim John Blyth Barrymore, also known as John Barrymore III, is the
grandson of Barrymore Sr., an idol whose career spanned four decades and
included horror classics such as the 1920s ``Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.''

Barrymore III is also half-brother to movie actress Drew Barrymore.

An actor himself until about five years ago, the Mountain View resident is
now a computer consultant. He played a restaurant manager in the 1990 movie
``Bonfire of the Vanities,'' and starred in more than a dozen B movies,
including the 1997 science fiction film ``Hybrid,'' his last movie.