Elderly Man Bound With Duct Tape For Hours In North Philadelphia Home Invasion
By Elizabeth Hur
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police are searching for two suspects who victimized an elderly man during a terrifying home invasion in North Philadelphia on Monday.
Authorities say two men broke into a home along the 2700 block of Marvine Street just after 10 a.m. and bound the homeowner, 74-year-old Etolia Fox, with duct tape in the upstairs hallway and then burglarized the home.
"(It was) painful for me keep trying to twist and get out," Fox said. "I was frightened."
The intruders used duct tape to cover Fox's mouth and to tie his hands and ankles. He was left that way for more than six hours. To make matters worse, Fox is a diabetic.
"They saw my medicine," he said. "So they asked me if I was a diabetic and do I want some water and was I alright?"
Fox didn't get any water. He just remembers thinking do as he is told and maybe he'll live.
"I was just worried about not getting hurt," Fox said.
Fox says the two burglars broke in through a dining room window minutes after his wife left for work.
"I thought it was her," Fox said, "so I came out and that's when they came out of the front room with guns, they said, 'Get down!'"
Police were finally called at around 4:30 p.m. when the victim's wife found him. Investigators then spent hours searching for clues and collecting evidence.
"It's very possible they were targeted because of their age," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small. "Maybe these perpetrators didn't think they were home at the time."
Police say the suspects got away with a flat-screen television, a computer and some cash. Fox is just grateful that his life was spared.
"Sometimes you can do what they ask you, but they still hurt you," he said.
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said Tuesday morning they are still waiting for lab results to see if useable forensic evidence was recovered by detectives.
"We are going to work this case very hard, obviously this could have ended in tragedy ... we'll pull out all the stops to find these guys."
