Police: 90-year-old woman robbed, assaulted in her Elizabeth Township home
ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) — Police said a 90-year-old woman in Elizabeth Township was robbed and assaulted in her home.
Police said officers responded to the home on Boston Hollow in the township on Thursday. When they arrived, the woman said she was watching TV in her living room at 2 a.m. when the TV went out and a banging was heard at the door.
She then told police that her door was kicked open and two men entered her home. One man stole jewelry from the bedroom area, the woman told police.
Before leaving, one man sprayed the woman with hot sauce and alcohol to disorient and the other smashed her phone on the floor, according to police.
"They ran off like cowards into the darkness," Elizabeth Township Police Chief Ken Honick told KDKA-TV on Friday.
The woman eventually went to a neighbor's home to call 911.
Investigators quickly identified the suspects' get-away vehicle, a red mini-van, by using video from doorbell cameras from homes, surveillance cameras from businesses and the township's license-plate reader.
Police said William Aschmeller and Carl Mathews, both of McKeesport, were later arrested and charged. They are currently in the Allegheny County Jail. They are both facing a list of charges, including robbery and burglary.
Investigators think the pair targeted the woman because one of the suspects, a handyman, had done some work in the neighborhood within the last six months and identified her as an easy victim.
"We will not and we cannot accept this type of behavior in our community," the chief said.
As for the victim, she wasn't seriously hurt, but Honick said, "She's in the privacy of her own home. She's in the comfort and security of her own home. She felt very violated. She was very shaken up."