Teen charged in brutal attack
D.A.: Elderly woman was beaten, bound and stuffed in storage room for 4 days
EAST BRANDYWINE >> A 17-yearold juvenile has been charged in a brutal home invasion in which an elderly woman was attacked, beaten, bound and stuffed in a storage room for four days, officials announced Thursday.
“You’ll be with Jesus soon,” the teen allegedly told the 72-yearold victim during the violent confrontation.
Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan announced the arrest of the juvenile, who had apparently escaped from Devereux Brandywine, a behavioral facility that is not far from where the victim lived. Hogan said the juvenile, who was originally from Thailand and also lived in Media, allegedly attacked a 72-year-old woman in her East Brandywine home on Creek Road (Route 282), stole her car and credit cards, then left the victim bound and locked in a dark room for four days.
“This juvenile engaged in a brutal attack on the victim, then showed a callous disregard for her life,” Hogan said in a statement. “The charged juvenile is lucky that the victim did not die. If the victim had not been found by her family, the defendant would be facing murder charges.”
The victim, a grandmother, had no prior contact with the juvenile, according to investigators.
The district attorney’s office released the following information:
The victim was at home in the morning of Feb. 22. She left the house at 9 a.m. and when she returned home at 11 a.m., she discovered that somebody had burglarized her home, stealing credit cards. She then left for work. As she walked back into her home from work at about 7:30 p.m., she was grabbed and struck, according to investigators. During the assault, the attacker told her, “You’ll be with Jesus soon.” She was strangled until she lost consciousness.
The attacker then reportedly covered the victim’s head with a shopping bag, secured around her neck with duct tape. Her arms were tied behind her back with zip ties, duct tape, and cloth. Her knees and ankles were bound together with duct tape.
The attacker allegedly stole the victim’s credit cards, her 2013 silver Fiat 500, a phone and other items.
Before leaving, investigators said the attacker reportedly tossed the bound victim into a small, unlit storage area underneath a set of stairs in the house. The victim was left tied up in the room, without food or water or light, for four days, from Wednesday night until Sunday morning, when she was found by a relative.
Investigators said when the victim did not call anybody for several days, her family became worried and checked on her. A family member entered the residence at about 10 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26. She was found badly dehydrated, malnourished, and injured from the assault, but still alive. She was transported to Paoli Hospital where she received emergency treatment. Hogan said she will survive.
“The victim showed remarkable courage and resilience in surviving the ordeal,” Hogan said. “She is strong physically and mentally, and will recover with the help of her family.”
East Brandywine Police Chief Mark Kocsi said the victim is doing well, and is still in the hospital. He thanked the investigators for their assistance, and offered prayers to the victim and her family.
The East Brandywine Township Police Department and Chester County Detectives investigated the case and said they discovered that a juvenile had escaped from Devereux on Feb. 22, the day of the attack. The staff at Devereux reported the juvenile’s absence immediately to the police. The juvenile returned to Devereux two days after the attack, but subsequently was transferred to another facility, according to investigators.
East Brandywine police traced the use of the victim’s stolen credit cards. They discovered that one of her credit cards was used in Maryland on Feb. 22, sometime after the attack. The police recovered video from the store where the credit card was used. Police said the juvenile 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 cooperated throughout the investigation. The police executed a search warrant on the juvenile’s belongings left at Devereux. The police said they recovered the clothes that the juvenile was reportedly wearing when he used the victim’s car and credit card. The police also recovered the victim’s stolen phone at Devereux.
An employee at Devereux told the police that the juvenile bleached his shoes when he came back to Devereux. The police located the shoes, which they said had been bleached, but still had a distinctive diamond pattern on the soles of the shoes. The juvenile’s shoes matched the pattern of foot prints left in the victim’s home, according to investigators.
Leah Yaw, senior vice president at Devereux, said their thoughts are with the victim and “we are deeply sorry this terrible incident happened to her, and we are praying for her recovery and her family’s healing.
“Now that the authorities have completed their initial investigation, we have begun our own internal investigation as part of our continuous quality improvement process,” Yaw said in a statement. “We consistently seek opportunities to improve our provision of care. This is part of our culture. We have a strong track record of providing safe and compassionate care to some of the most vulnerable children and families in our nation. It is our privilege to do this work and we take the confidence placed in us by our partners and communities very seriously. We will maintain our focus on safety, quality and continuous improvement through this situation, and in the future.”
Police said the juvenile was arrested on Wednesday and has been charged with attempted homicide, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, strangulation, and related charged.
The juvenile is being held at the Chester County Juvenile Detention Center in Pocopson awaiting his detention hearing, at which a Juvenile Court master, Gregory Marshall, will be asked to determine whether he will continue to be held at the Detention Center ahead of an adjudication hearing, or other formal court hearing. Or whether some other placement is more appropriate. The prosecutor at the detention hearing on Friday is Assistant District Attorney Christine Abatemarco.
Hogan has indicated his office will seek to have the juvenile tried as an adult.
“Thank you to the District Attorney’s Office and their Detectives, the Baltimore City Police Department, and to the many police agencies and medical and other support teams that assisted us at the scene and with the investigation,” Kocsi said. “A special thank you to the victim and her family for their strength and perseverance. Our prayers are with them for a full recovery.”
Investigators ask that anyone with additional information to contact Chester County Detective Ben Martin at 610-344-6866 or East Brandywine Detective Dan Orris at 610269-4300.