A homeless migrant from the African country of Djibouti has been arrested after beating and robbing an astounding number of elderly victims, with some of them over the age of 90.
Labeled a serial attacker of the elderly, the 36-year-old man has attacked 17 elderly women in Rennes in recent weeks, often with extreme violence. Due to the series of assaults, police set up surveillance checks around the area of attacks in the hopes of catching the man.
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That surveillance eventually paid off. During the last day of the market in Villejean, police officers caught the man in the middle of a vicious assault on a senior who was walking on crutches at the time. Prosecutor Philippe Astruc said the suspect “slammed the head of an 83-year-old woman against the doorknob of her building.”
Just a few minutes before that, police determined the man had attacked a 73-year-old woman and stole her wallet. Shortly before that, at 9:30 a.m., he beat a 78-year-old woman who was using a walker. He was unable to steal the woman’s handbag, but the attacker grabbed her bag of tomatoes and ran off, according to French newspaper Le Telegramme.
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In total, the man is being charged with robbing and assaulting 17 different elderly women in the space of weeks.
Among his victims was also a 93-year-old woman named Lillane, who also spoke to other victims who had been targeted by the African.
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“I met a lady, he broke her wrist. And I came across another one, she had half of her face affected. She told me, ‘I was looking for you, I wanted to see you, you are the first one he hit!’ He punched her in the face, you should see her face,” said Lillane while speaking with French newspaper Le Telegramme.
She explained that she met “five other victims,” all of them elderly and all of whom had been the victim of extreme brutality by the suspect. Regarding her own experience with the African, Lillane said that he was in his “thirties and well-dressed” and did not hesitate to slam her to the ground and put his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming.
The man is facing charges for assault, theft, and bodily harm against a vulnerable person.
