A 17-year-old boy who authorities say escaped from a behavioral health center was charged with a "brutal" home invasion and theft where a grandmother was left tied up for four days in a dark closet, Chester County prosecutors said.
"This juvenile engaged in a brutal attack on the victim, then showed callous disregard for her life," Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said. "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."
A 72-year-old woman is recovering after the Feb. 22 choking and beating inside her home on the 1000 block of Creek Road (Rt. 282) in East Brandywine Township.
The woman returned home that day to find that someone burglarized her house, having stolen credit cards. She then went to her regularly scheduled work day, the DA's office said.
As the woman -- who lives alone -- returned from work and got out of her vehicle later that night a male dressed in all black grabbed her from behind and hit her in the head, investigators said.
He choked the woman unconscious then covered her head with a shopping bag, prosecutors said. Duct tape was wrapped around her neck and the tape and zip-ties were used to bound her arms and legs.
During the attack he allegedly told the woman, "You'll be with Jesus soon," prosecutors said.
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Before leaving, prosecutors said he put the woman in the unlit cramped space under the stairs and left her tied up without food or water. Four days passed before a family member found her. The relative stopped by the victim's home after several phone calls went unanswered.
The woman was then taken to Paoli Hospital where emergency doctors treated her for injuries.
Police said the teen left the home with a laptop as well as the woman's car, a 2013 silver Fiat 500.
It was that vehicle, along with use of the woman's credit cards, that helped lead investigators to the teen, prosecutors said.
Police used surveillance video from Maryland to zero in on the teen since the victim's credit cards were used on the same day of the attack, prosecutors said. The video showed the teen using the cards and getting into and out of the victim's car, according to prosecutors.
Investigators later learned the teen was being housed at behavioral health facility Devereux Brandywine, about three miles from the victim's home.
Devereux staff reported the teen missing the day of the attack. He returned two days later and was transferred to another facility, the DA said.
Detectives searched the teen's room where they found the clothes the boy wore during the attack, prosecutors said. Police said Devereux staff told them the teen bleached his shoes after he returned to the facility, but investigators said a diamond pattern on the soles matched footprints left at the crime scene.
Investigators didn't identify the boy since he is a minor but said he was originally from Thailand and most recently lived in Media, Pennsylvania. He was charged in juvenile court Wednesday with attempted homicide, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, strangulation and related offenses.
"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, "East Brandywine Police Chief Mark Kosci said.
"A special thank you to the victim and her family for their strength and perseverance. Our praters are with them for a full recovery."[[238427591, C]]
