Posted on 11/25/2008 12:39:23 AM PST by CE2949BB
OAKLAND — She was a familiar sight in the upper Fruitvale neighborhood: a quiet, tiny, 80-year-old Chinese woman who wore a straw hat while collecting cans and other recyclables to earn spending money for her grandchildren. She would smile when residents would try to talk to her, but her lack of English made conversation impossible.
The woman, who never bothered anyone, was fighting for her life Friday, the day after three men beat her unconscious with fists and feet and the broomstick she used to carry the plastic bags filled with her haul, then stood over her and laughed, police said.
Officer Sven Hamilton, who is investigating the brutal attack that happened about 5:40 p.m. Thursday in the 2700 block of Grande Vista Avenue, was still trying to comprehend on Friday what would prompt such viciousness, especially to such a defenseless person.
He said even doctors and nurses at the hospital where she was taken for brain injuries and facial fractures were angered by the severity of the attack.
"What could an 80-year-old woman possibly have done to anyone to make them do something like this?" Hamilton said. "I am at a loss for words about why this could happen."
Hamilton said he does not think robbery was a motive, since the woman — whose name was not released — did not carry a purse and was still wearing a ring and other jewelry.
Her 32-year-old grandson, who didn't want his named used, said his grandmother was a farmer in Canton, China, before coming to Oakland 15 years ago to live with family members in a duplex a few blocks from where she was attacked.
Every Thursday for the past three years the 4-foot-8-inch, 103-pound widow would walk through the neighborhood removing cans and other recyclable items from plastic bins residents would put out for regular collection on Friday.
The grandson said she did it for exercise, to give money to her grandchildren and to buy things for her two great-granchildren.
And until Thursday she never had any problems.
Hamilton said some residents heard a commotion and when they went to look they saw the woman lying helpless on the sidewalk with two men punching and kicking her and another beating her with what turned out to be the broomstick she used to carry her bags on her shoulders. During the attack the broomstick broke and the man started kicking her, Hamilton said.
Hamilton said that once the beating stopped, witnesses said the men stood over the woman "like they were admiring what they did and then laughed" before running off.
The woman was taken to a hospital where she remained unidentified until about 3 a.m. Friday when anxious relatives, concerned she had not returned home, made a missing person's report to police.
The grandson said family members searched for her several hours before calling police. He said the family is "more sad than angry about what happened."
"She holds the family together; she is just a nice old lady who didn't do anything to anybody. I don't know why they would attack her, it's unreasonable," he said.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $5,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the suspects. Anyone with information can call police at 510-238-3426 or 510-777-8572 or 510-777-3211.
Well, throw in the city of SF, and there you got another 400k in the mix, presuming all the gender-bending is a wash. So is it just this newspaper refusing to ID the race of the perps or is it the police, too ?
Hey Sven. I got a clue for you. Could it because... they're EVIL?
I searched and every article was essentially the same. If I were writing the article, I think I would have pointed it out, if the police offered no description of the suspects.
Whether the police or the media, it is ridiculous. Offer a $10k reward and give no description of the suspects, whatsoever. Tall, short, clothing, race, scars, tats, hair, none of those, only gender. A description is not necessary, apparently, unless you are the one who is nearly beaten to death.
“Surely one of them possesses a conscious?”
I highly doubt it. We now live in a “don`t feel guilty about anything” society.
A description is not necessary, apparently, unless you are the one who is nearly beaten to death.
Seriously! We know how much the lady who was beaten weighs for crying out loud! The thugs? Not necessary to know anything about them.
“Freeper friends, I think we’d better prepare to see more of this. I hope that we can be the glue that holds society together in the days to come”
Sounds like you’ve read the book, “Revelation” (at the end of the Bible). Things are prophesied to get really bad before they get better.
How are the suspects going to be found if the media refuses to give a description?
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