Sister Iroz
April 10th, 2009, 05:42 AM
PORT RICHEY — Two teen boys — one 14, the other 15 — have been charged with attacking, raping and trying to smother an 89-year-old woman with her own pillow before dawn Wednesday in her Palm Terrace Gardens home.
The suspects are Carlos Fernandez, 15, and Luis Reyes Jr., 14. Another boy, 16-year-old Sean Maus, was also arrested, but not charged with taking part in the attack. All of the boys live close to the woman's house.
The week before the woman was beaten and raped, her house was broken into while she slept. Thieves stole a flashlight, some food and her red Pontiac Sunfire. A neighbor said the thieves ate the woman's snack cakes and left the wrappers littered on her lawn.
The neighbor figured the burglars were kids.
Authorities agree.
According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, detectives think Maus, Reyes and Fernandez were the ones who committed the April 2 crime.
Reyes and Fernandez went back in the early hours Wednesday, authorities say.
The woman told authorities that the men who broke into her home were masked. They beat her in her own bed. They ransacked her home.
Because they covered their faces, the woman couldn't give Pasco sheriff's detectives a detailed description of them.
She said three men attacked her. Late Thursday night, Sheriff's Office spokesman Kevin Doll wouldn't say if authorities are still searching for another suspect in the crime.
"At this point, this is all we are releasing," he said.
The crime sent chills through people living in the neighborhood, which is near Ranch Road in Port Richey.
A woman who answered the door Thursday afternoon near the Maus residence said she usually sees the teenager and other people outside in the driveway, working on cars. But she hadn't seen anyone there Wednesday or Thursday, which she thought was odd. It's never quiet like that. She, like most people in the area who spoke to a reporter, didn't want to be named. They are afraid.
"I think they picked on someone who was weak," she said through her screen door.
Attack prompts move
Another neighbor said the victim — who turns 90 in August — is small, barely 5 feet tall and thin. She said the woman told her that she kicked one of the attackers in his "vital parts" and that the assailants fled.
The woman went to a neighboring home for help and was taken to a hospital, where authorities were called at 6 a.m. Wednesday. The woman was treated for her injuries, including a black eye, and released that afternoon.
[...]
She said the victim lives alone, is hard of hearing and keeps to herself.
"She's a sweet lady," she said.
Reyes and Fernandez are charged with burglary to a residence, grand theft auto, attempted first-degree murder and sexual battery. Maus is charged with grand theft auto and burglary. Reyes and Fernandez have also been charged in burglaries in two Port Richey businesses.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article991066.ece
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/Special2bme/0409GloriaAttackArrests_tmb0000_200.jpg
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/nature_coast/Arrest_in_elderly_assault_040909
I didn't say who was which but I was assuming the 15 yr. old Carlos Fernandez was the one on the right.
The suspects are Carlos Fernandez, 15, and Luis Reyes Jr., 14. Another boy, 16-year-old Sean Maus, was also arrested, but not charged with taking part in the attack. All of the boys live close to the woman's house.
The week before the woman was beaten and raped, her house was broken into while she slept. Thieves stole a flashlight, some food and her red Pontiac Sunfire. A neighbor said the thieves ate the woman's snack cakes and left the wrappers littered on her lawn.
The neighbor figured the burglars were kids.
Authorities agree.
According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, detectives think Maus, Reyes and Fernandez were the ones who committed the April 2 crime.
Reyes and Fernandez went back in the early hours Wednesday, authorities say.
The woman told authorities that the men who broke into her home were masked. They beat her in her own bed. They ransacked her home.
Because they covered their faces, the woman couldn't give Pasco sheriff's detectives a detailed description of them.
She said three men attacked her. Late Thursday night, Sheriff's Office spokesman Kevin Doll wouldn't say if authorities are still searching for another suspect in the crime.
"At this point, this is all we are releasing," he said.
The crime sent chills through people living in the neighborhood, which is near Ranch Road in Port Richey.
A woman who answered the door Thursday afternoon near the Maus residence said she usually sees the teenager and other people outside in the driveway, working on cars. But she hadn't seen anyone there Wednesday or Thursday, which she thought was odd. It's never quiet like that. She, like most people in the area who spoke to a reporter, didn't want to be named. They are afraid.
"I think they picked on someone who was weak," she said through her screen door.
Attack prompts move
Another neighbor said the victim — who turns 90 in August — is small, barely 5 feet tall and thin. She said the woman told her that she kicked one of the attackers in his "vital parts" and that the assailants fled.
The woman went to a neighboring home for help and was taken to a hospital, where authorities were called at 6 a.m. Wednesday. The woman was treated for her injuries, including a black eye, and released that afternoon.
[...]
She said the victim lives alone, is hard of hearing and keeps to herself.
"She's a sweet lady," she said.
Reyes and Fernandez are charged with burglary to a residence, grand theft auto, attempted first-degree murder and sexual battery. Maus is charged with grand theft auto and burglary. Reyes and Fernandez have also been charged in burglaries in two Port Richey businesses.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article991066.ece
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/Special2bme/0409GloriaAttackArrests_tmb0000_200.jpg
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/nature_coast/Arrest_in_elderly_assault_040909
I didn't say who was which but I was assuming the 15 yr. old Carlos Fernandez was the one on the right.