Elderly Woman Knocked Down, Robbed Outside Apartment Building
QUINCY (CBS) – A 92-year-old woman was knocked down and robbed by while she was out walking to get a newspaper Sunday morning. A Good Samaritan helped her back to her apartment building, but detectives now say she might be part of the robbery scheme.
The elderly woman, Doris Prendiville, was seriously hurt. The crime has stunned neighbors at Wollaston Manor. "Truly just no words to express it, it's just a horrible crime," said building manager Madeline Santiago.
Prendiville was returning from her normal Sunday morning walk to buy the newspaper at a nearby CVS when she was knocked over by a man who grabbed her purse.
"It's violent, he didn't hold back," said Quincy Police Lt. John Steele. "She went right down, things go flying up in the air. It's very disturbing."
The attack sent Prendiville to the hospital with a fractured sternum. Her purse was found next to a nearby dumpster with 30 dollars stolen.
As police began to gather surveillance video from the area, they quickly noticed the mystery woman hugging the elderly victim in the lobby of the building minutes after the crime had something in common with the mugging suspect.
"We see them together, they appear to be communicating prior to the robbery," Lt. Steele said.
Police are asking for the woman or anyone who recognizes her to come forward believing she at the very least knows the attacker.