Man, 99, terrified during home invasion

Neighbor’s son faces charges

Since being held at gunpoint in their Tamarac home, 99-year-old Louis Rosen hasn’t really cracked a smile, according to his wife Irene.

The past few days have been fraught with sleeplessness, wariness of neighbors and constant calls from relatives checking in, she said.

“I was very scared,” said Louis Rosen from his back patio where the incident started Friday.

Police say the man with the gun was 45-year-old Leonard Benitez, the son of the Rosens’ next-door neighbor. A Broward judge denied bond for the New York native who faces four felony charges.

“With the arraignment and the no-bond, hopefully that keeps him away,” said Mark Salzman, Irene

Rosen’s son who flew down from Sacramento as soon as he heard what happened.

The Rosens’ home is on the west side of Tamarac, nestled in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes.

A man the Rosens hadn’t seen before walked over to their back patio from the house next door on the 7000 block of Northwest 70th Street, they said.

He asked for sugar and salt and then had a conversation with the couple.

“When your next-door neighbor asks to borrow salt, it makes perfect sense,” Irene Rosen, 70, said. “We had a nice conversation.”

Suddenly, the man pulled out a gun and demanded their bank account information so he could withdraw $50,000, the Broward Sheriff ’s Office said.

The Rosens were held hostage in their home for about two hours before Irene Rosen managed to call 911 and escape to a neighbor’s house.

Benitez faces charges of home invasion with a firearm, kidnap/infliction of bodily harm or terrorizing, battery on a person 65 or older, and false imprisonment.

Police said Benitez had also hit Louis Rosen said on the head with the gun, leaving a cut.

Louis Rosen wore a Boston Red Sox hat to cover the gash, which was stapled at a nearby hospital. He said he wore a similar cap the day of the incident.

“I think that might have cushioned [the blow] a little,” Irene Rosen said as she pulled out a hat that had a small bloodstain.

She often finds her normally upbeat husband sitting somber and quiet, which she said has been out of character. She said while the situation could have been worse, she hopes everything will start to feel normal again soon.

“We’ll stay here for as long as we have to for them to heal,” said Irene Rosen’s daughter, Robyn Salzman, who flew down from Washington D.C.

ARIC CHOKEY/STAFF Police say the man who held Louis and Irene Rosen hostage was the son of a neighbor.