TERRORIZED INSIDE HOME
COPS: MAN TIED UP, HIS DAUGHTER BEATEN IN CHESTER HOME
CHESTER >> A 75-year-old city man was bound to a bed with electrical cord and his 49-year-old daughter was beaten nearly unconscious before four thieves, including one woman, made off with a safe containing an undisclosed amount of money and possibly jewelry.
“This was a brutal attack,” city Police Maj. Steven Gretsky said of the home invasion, which apparently began around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday but not reported to police until 8:17 p.m., after the terrorized father managed to free himself and call 911.
Officer Daniel Hoffman arrived at the residence in the 700 block of East 25th Street to find the man sitting outside the property and asking for an ambulance for his daughter. The initial call led officers to another residence on the block, according to Gretsky, but the correct address was quickly determined.
Inside the house, Hoffman found the woman in a bedroom on the second floor, semi-conscious and lying in a pool of blood, Gretsky said. Her face was bruised and her eyes were swollen shut, the result of what investigators suspect was a pistol whipping. As of late Wednesday afternoon, she was listed in critical but stable condition at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, according to authorities.
Meanwhile, Gretsky said investigators from both the Chester Police Department and the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division were following solid leads, though he declined to elaborate.
Inside the house, Hoffman found the woman in a bedroom on the second floor, semiconscious and lying in a pool of blood, Gretsky said. Her face was bruised and her eyes were swollen shut, the result of what investigators suspect was a pistol whipping. As of late Wednesday afternoon, she was listed in critical but stable condition at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, according to authorities.
It’s unclear how the invaders made their entrance, only that when they were inside the house, one of them put a silver handgun to the man’s head and demanded the combination to a safe.
“They knew exactly what they were looking for,” said Gretsky.
The man told the invaders that he did not know the combination, at which point he was thrown onto the bed. The invaders then used electrical cord to bind his hands and feet.
At some point, according to Gretsky, the man’s daughter arrived home.
“She was assaulted and they then fled with a safe,” he said.
According to reports, the man was unable to identify the invaders, but provided partial descriptions of the suspects. He described one of the men as being about 6 feet 1 inches tall, and having a tattoo of an eye with feather wings on his forearm. The female was described as wearing white legging pants with zebra stripes.
All three males were described as wearing dark clothing, and their faces and bodies were covered, with the exception of their arms.
At the house Wednesday afternoon, family members declined comment.
City Detective Lawrence Weigand is leading the ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact him at 610-447-8426. Tipsters can also call CID headquarters at 610-8914700 or 911.
Chester officers William Swanson and David DeFrank assisted at the scene, along with county Detective Lt. Scott Bireley, Sgt. John Kelly and detectives Tim Deery, Anthony Ruggieri, David McDonald and Robert Lythgoe.