Home invasion hearing continued

A hearing in Common Pleas Court here for the 17-year-old Delaware County youth accused in the brutal home invasion robbery of a 72-year-old woman in East Brandywine has been continued.

The decision to delay the hearing for the youth, known publicly only as K.F., came after the prosecution on Monday filed a petition to transfer the case from Juvenile Court to try the defendant as an adult. No reason for the continuance was given, and no new date has been set.

The youth is charged with at-

tempted homicide, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, strangulation, and related charges. He is being held in the Chester County Youth Center in Pocopson, where he has been housed since his arrest on March 1.

Police say the teenager bound and gagged the elderly victim before leaving her in a dark storage room, where she remained for four days before being discovered by a relative who came to check on her. She was hospitalized for several days following her discovery.

Given the severity of the charges, the violence of the

alleged incident, K.F.’s age and his prior juvenile record, it is likely that his case will be transferred to adult court, observers who know the juvenile system said. But K.F.’s defense team could ask the court to de-certify him before going to trial and have the case moved back to Juvenile Court.

In asking that he be kept in detention, Assistant District Attorney Christine Abatemarco said that K.F. had two previous adjudications for burglaries in Delaware County, and had previously escaped from Glen Mills School before being transferred to the Devereux Brandywine campus, where he was living when he allegedly committed the East Brandywine robbery. He is a native of Thailand.

According to authorities, on Feb. 22 the woman was at home in the morning and left the house from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. When she returned home, she discovered that someone had burglarized her home, stealing credit cards. She then left for her regularly scheduled work day.

The victim returned from work at approximately 7:30 p.m. As she walked

back into her home, she was grabbed and struck. During the assault, the attacker told her, “You’ll be with Jesus soon.” She was strangled until she lost consciousness.

The attacker then covered the victim’s head with a shopping bag, secured around her neck with duct tape. Her then tied her arms behind her back with zip ties, duct tape, and cloth. Her knees and ankles were bound together with duct tape. Before leaving, the attacker stuffed the victim in a small, unlit storage area underneath a set of stairs in the house, police said.

The attacker stole the victim’s credit cards, her 2013 silver Fiat 500, a phone, and other items. When the victim did not telephone anyone for several days, her family grew worried and checked up on her. A family member entered the residence at about 10 a.m. on Sunday, and found her badly dehydrated, malnourished, and injured from the assault, but still alive. She was rushed to Paoli Hospital where she received emergency treatment.

East Brandywine police and Chester County Detectives discovered that a juvenile had fled from the nearby Devereux facility the same say as the attack, something reported by staff there.

The police traced the use of the victim’s stolen credit cards. They discovered that one of her credit cards was used in Maryland Feb. 22, the same day as the attack. The police recovered video from the store where the credit card was used. The juvenile who had escaped from Devereux, K.F., is clearly identifiable in the video, both emerging from the victim’s stolen car and using the victim’s credit card.

The police also checked with the staff at Devereux Brandywine, who were very cooperative throughout the investigation. Executing a search warrant on the juvenile’s belongings left at Devereux, police recovered the clothes that K.F. was wearing when he allegedly used the victim’s car and credit card. The police also recovered the victim’s stolen phone at Devereux.

The case was investigated by the East Brandywine Township Police Department and the Chester County Detectives. Anybody with information should contact Chester County Detective Ben Martin at 610-344-6866 or East Brandywine Detective Dan Orris at 610-269-4300.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Police say a 72-year-old woman was beaten, bound and then tossed in this storage room in her East Brandywine home, where she remained for four days until being discovered by family members. A 17-yearold has been charged in the attack.