Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Woman, 81, hit ‘head to toes’
Deputies say suspect punched her for nearly 20 minutes
The punches rained down on an 81-year-old woman in a severe beating that lasted almost 20 minutes.
Twenty-two-year-old Alexander Olaik is accused of landing the blows on the woman from “her head to her toes” despite a restraining order that was supposed to keep him away from her, investigators say.
The beating Feb. 23 left the unidentified woman at Delray Medical Center with brain bleeding, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office arrest report.
The relationship between Olaik, 22, of West Boca, and the woman was blacked out of the arrest report, but investigators noted that she initially made up a story to protect him.
County records show the restraining order was put in place after a Jan. 30 incident in which Olaik pushed the woman down on
a bed and grabbed her arm during an argument.
Deputies arrested Olaik on Wednesday.
The alleged beating happened when Olaik went to the woman’s home, saying he hadn’t eaten in days. The woman fed him, but afterward she mentioned the restraining order against him and said he couldn’t stay at the home, according to the report.
Talking about the restraining order caused Olaik to spiral into a rage, punching the woman for 15 to 20 minutes, deputies said.
Olaik cried after the beating and apologized, but he refused to give the woman her phone to call for help, police said. Once the woman said she couldn’t breathe and felt like she was going to die, Olaik called 911. Then he hung up and left the home, according to the report.
The woman has a medical condition that can make it hard to breathe, and the beating exacerbated the condition, investigators said.
At first she told doctors at Delray Medical Center that she had slipped and fell, but they suspected something more. Four days after being hospitalized, the woman gave a physical therapist a note, saying Olaik had beaten her.
When deputies searched the woman’s apartment they found blood on her pillow, a TV smashed on the floor and the rest of her unit in disarray, the report said.
Olaik faces charges of aggravated battery on a person over age 65, obstructing justice, violating a domestic restraining order, petty theft and criminal mischief. He was booked into Palm Beach County Jail on bonds totaling $220,000.