90-Year-Old Rossmoor Woman Attacked in Home-Invasion Robbery

A 90-year-old woman was mugged in Rossmoor on Wednesday by two men who tied her up, ripped her blouse and ransacked her Weatherby Road home, an Orange County sheriff's spokesman said.

UPDATE: One suspect arrested. Click here for story.

The attack began around 11 a.m., when the woman walked outside to get her newspaper.

"She uses a cane and they came up behind her, put a gun at her throat, took her back inside the house and said, 'Sit down and don't look at me,' " according to her son, who asked to be identified only as Jim.

The robbers tied the woman to a chair and covered her face with a towel. One of the men guarded her while his partner ransacked every room in the house, sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The robbers also "physically ripped her jewelry off her," tearing her blouse and popping off buttons in the process, Amormino said. They made their getaway in a small, compact white pickup, Amormino said.

"I think they were punk coward kids, probably drug addicts with no conscience ... because what kind of person would do this to an elderly lady?" he added.

One of the men wore plastic surgical gloves and the other had black gloves with white snowflakes on them, Amormino said.

It was not immediately clear what the gems were worth or what else the robbers took from the home, Amormino said.

The victim's son described the stolen items as expensive but said, "What they really took were memories." Among the lost treasures was his father's rare Air Force wings pin, he said.

Neighbors and relatives described the victim, a onetime UCLA math major who has lived in the neighborhood 44 years, in one of the original Rossmoor homes, as feisty and independent.

"I am more shaken up than she is," her son said. "She has no problem staying alone here tonight. She's not going to, but she has no problem."

As he spoke Wednesday evening, the neighborhood was aglow with a mixture of blinking Christmas bulbs and TV news camera lights. Inside, his mother was describing the suspects to a police sketch artist.

Anyone with information was asked to call 855-TIP-OCCS, the Orange County Crime Stoppers organization.

“This was a very significant event in Rossmoor," Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Robert Wren said. "This type of thing does not happen here."

Wren called the crime “an isolated incident" and said, "There is not some sort of spree.”

Following a year of significant increases in burglaries in Rossmoor, the Sheriff’s Department has stepped up its presence in the 11,000-person community. At any given time, there are two deputies in Rossmoor, said Wren.

A deputy was on scene within a minute of the 911 call, Wren said.

“Everybody is very concerned about the burglaries that are going on here,” said Rebecca Lara, a Rossmoor resident and founder the community’s Rossmoor Predator Management Team. “Especially with the holidays here and Christmas – it’s a major concern.”

- City News Service contributed to this report.