Elderly Dargaville woman attacked by intruder

File photo / NZ Herald

Dargaville is reeling after an elderly woman was viciously attacked in her home.

It was the second such attack in the town in four months, although the two are not linked.

While police are remaining tight-lipped about the case, it has been reported that the woman was so badly beaten she had to crawl to a neighbour's property to call for help.

The latest home invasion, which occurred at the weekend, comes almost four months after a 67-year-old Te Kopuru woman was beaten and bound by three masked men who stole her credit cards and car.

Two men were later arrested and charged.

In the latest case, police said the alleged offender was arrested a short time after the crime at another location. A man appeared in a closed court yesterday before justices of the peace.

The court has suppressed identity details of the victim and alleged offender, as well as the charges faced by the man. The man has been remanded in custody and will reappear before the court on Thursday, when the suppression orders are likely to be revisited.

A police spokeswoman said a team of officers were working on the investigation but they were not seeking any more help from the public at this stage. Neighbours of the woman were interviewed by police.

The Northern Advocate believes the woman sustained serious injuries and was being treated in Whangarei Hospital.

It is believed the woman was severely beaten in the incident and crawled to a neighbour's home to call for help.

Yesterday, neighbours said the woman's car sped away from the property about 8.15am on Saturday.

A neighbour, who cannot be named in order to protect the victim's identity, said he was shocked by the crime as it could easily have happened to him or any of his neighbours.

The elderly woman lived on her own, he said. The town was reeling from the attack.

In another, unrelated, case of a crime directed against an elderly person, a Whangarei teenager was nabbed by the public and an off-duty policeman after allegedly ripping a handbag from the hands of a 77-year-old woman at the weekend.

Whangarei police acting Sergeant Geoff Bigwood said the woman was on the corner of Robert St and John St on Sunday when the alleged bag snatch happened.

Members of the public in a passing car saw the robbery and followed the man who fled. An off-duty police officer happened to be in the area and together they managed to catch a teenager on James St.

Mr Bigwood said the woman was not injured but was shaken by the robbery.

A 19-year-old unemployed man from Otangarei was held in custody overnight and was to appear in the Whangarei District Court yesterday on a charge of robbery.