PHILADELPHIA _ A 17-year-old has been arrested in the home-invasion robbery of a 72-year-old woman who was beaten, bound and locked in a dark closet in her home for four days without any food or drink, authorities announced Thursday.
The teen had escaped from Devereux Brandywine, a behavioral health facility near where the victim lives.
Prosecutors said that on Feb. 22, the woman, who lived alone on Creek Road in East Brandywine Township, had left her house from 9-11 a.m. When she returned home, she discovered that somebody had burglarized her home, stealing her credit cards. She then left to go to work, the Chester County District Attorney's Office said in a news release.
When she got home, at about 7:30 p.m., she was grabbed and struck, prosecutors said.
"You'll be home with Jesus soon," the teen allegedly told her as he choked her until she lost consciousness, prosecutors said.
The attacker then covered the woman's head with a shopping bag, wrapped duct tape around her neck, and tied her arms in back with zip ties, duct tape and cloth. He also bound her knees and ankles with duct tape, authorities said.
Before leaving, the attacker threw the woman into a small, dark storage area or closet underneath a set of stairs in the house. He left her there without any food, water or light, prosecutors said.
In addition to stealing the woman's credit cards, the attacker took her 2013 silver Fiat 500, phone and other items, authorities said.
When the woman did not call her family for a few days, her loved ones grew worried. The victim's daughter-in-law found her at about 10 a.m. Sunday. She found her mother-in-law badly dehydrated, malnourished and injured. The victim was taken to Paoli Hospital, where she received emergency treatment.
"She will survive," prosecutors said of the victim, who is both a mother and grandmother.
Through their investigation, the East Brandywine Township Police Department and Chester County Detectives learned that a juvenile had escaped from the nearby behavioral health facility on Feb. 22 _ the same day of the attack.
The teen, who is originally from Thailand but had been living in Media, returned to Devereux Brandywine two days later, but was transferred to another facility, prosecutors said.
Police traced the use of the victim's credit cards and discovered one was used in Maryland on Feb. 22. Surveillance video from a store there clearly showed the teen getting out of the woman's car and using her credit card, prosecutors said. Among other evidence, police found the victim's phone at Devereux Brandywine, which has been cooperating with investigators, authorities said.
The teen was arrested Wednesday and has been charged with attempted homicide, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, strangulation and related offenses. He will face a detention hearing Friday before a juvenile court master, during which prosecutors said they will seek to have him charged as an adult.
His name was not released since he is charged as a juvenile. Prosecutors said the victim had no prior contact with the teen.
"The victim showed remarkable courage and resilience in surviving the ordeal," Chester County District Attorney Thomas Hogan said in the statement. "She is strong physically and mentally, and will recover with the help of her family."
