A daughter and her elderly mother were drawn into a life-or-death struggle with two gunmen inside the women’s Oxford Circle home on Sept. 2, only a week after the younger victim survived another robbery mere steps from her front stoop.
The latter incident occurred at about 9:30 p.m. on the 6400 block of Dorcas St. According to Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum of Northeast Detectives, a 56-year-old victim operates a grocery store in Mayfair and had just returned home from work when a masked gunman ambushed her as she entered her side door.
The intruder pushed the woman inside, where the victim and her 74-year-old mother attempted to fight off the gunman, Rosenbaum said. A second gunman entered the house as both assailants pistol-whipped the women. One of the thugs had what police believe was a TEC-9-style fully automatic pistol, while the other had what appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun.
Once order was restored, one of the invaders held the women at bay on the first floor, while the second ransacked the master bedroom upstairs. He took nothing of value, said Rosenbaum, citing the victims’ accounts of events. Both gunmen fled northbound through the rear alley behind Dorcas Street.
Both women were taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where the younger victim was treated for minor bruising and the elder for lacerations of her scalp. The victims described both gunmen as black and 5 feet 7 inches tall with masks on their faces. One had a medium build and wore a gray jacket and jeans. The other was thin and wore a black hoodie and jeans.
The victims’ home was equipped with surveillance cameras that recorded much of the action. By the time detectives arrived to secure the video, the victims were already passing out copies of the unedited version to TV news crews, Rosenbaum said. Typically, police edit surveillance video before making it public to protect the innocent. Police also prefer to show video to potential witnesses first, in case they recognize the crooks.
Nonetheless, news stations openly broadcast the raw video in this case.
Since the initial investigation, detectives have learned that would-be robbers targeted the same merchant outside her home on Aug. 27. In that case, the victim had just parked her car on her block and placed her purse on the car hood while retrieving a bag of money from inside the vehicle. The cash was from her business and had to be taken to the bank.
Just then, unknown robbers approached her car and grabbed the purse before fleeing. Police are unsure if the same crooks were responsible for both incidents.
Call Northeast Detectives at 215–686–3153 to report information about the cases. ••
