LINDENWOLD, N.J. - February 21, 2014 (WPVI) -- A 93-year-old woman has become the victim of an assault and robbery in her own home.
Police say the 93-year-old victim may have been targeted because of her age.
Lindenwold Police say she woke up in her home on Fairmount Avenue to find a stranger inside sometime between 2:00 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. Friday.
The man covered her eyes and mouth with duct tape before ransacking her house.
"She never comes out of the house, so I think people just prey on her," Said Vanessa Glenn.
The thief also cut the phone line and blocked the halls so the elderly woman couldn't escape. But the victim was able to free herself after the suspect left.
"She then found a flashlight, set it to strobe and put it in the window and a neighbor saw that around 7:30 in the morning and called police," explained Jason Laughlin, Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
Neighbors woke up to the scene and an ambulance in front of the woman's home.
"My reaction was she got sick because this is not the first time she was calling police," said Maggie Leiva.
Camden County Prosecutor's Office confirmed criminals have targeted the woman a few times.
Resident say the most recent incident happened last month when fake utility workers distracted her and burglarized her home.
Next door neighbors who take care of victim told us she doesn't have a family.
They have been advising her to move into an assisted living facility and warned her that her house looks dark and abandoned; an easy target for thieves.
"They know that she's all by herself and her neighbors are nice enough to watch after her, but when people are not home and they're at work during day then that's when she gets taken advantage of," said Glenn.
