90-year-old victim of assault, robbery in Elizabeth Township shares her story

ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Off a busy Boston Hollow Road inside her living room sits 90-year-old Beadie Sapp.

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“I drink my milk, and I’m strong enough,” Sapp said.

Strong is an understatement when you hear what this woman endured 48 hours ago.

“The door come crashing down, and they said, ‘Shut up!’ ... And I’m like, ‘What do you guys want here? Who are you?’” Sapp said.

While sitting in her recliner at 2 a.m., two men went rummaging through her home, taking everything they could find.

“I said, ‘What do yinz want?’ And the guy hunting for everything is like, ‘I want your money. I know you have money,’” Sapp told Channel 11 News.

With jewelry in hand, Beadie said the one suspect smashed her telephone.

“They mixed up alcohol and hot sauce, and he had some kind of squirt gun and squirted it in my face,” Sapp said.

Immediately, Elizabeth Township police were on the case.

“I had officers off duty asking to come in: ‘We aren’t employees here in Elizabeth Township. We are also residents of Elizabeth Township, and our most precious residents are children and elderly,’” Sapp said.

Using new license plate reader technology, police were able to track the two suspects using a red van to McKeesport.

William Aschmeller, 57, and Carl Mathews, 45, were taken into custody and charged with burglary, robbery and assault.

“Our investigation led us to find out that the 57-year-old arrestee in this case had done contracted handyman work in the area and possibly targeted that location from information he gathered while working at an adjacent property,” said Elizabeth Township Police Chief Ken Honick.

As for Beadie, she’s getting a new door, her cable is being restored, and she’s thankful those two men are behind bars.

“I stood behind the door for a while waiting for the cops because I thought they were coming back,” Sapp said. “I was just shaken and waiting for the cops to help me out, and they did.”

Beadie told Channel 11 this wasn’t her first home invasion since living in her home. She said in 2008, someone broke in when she wasn’t there and stole her jewelry and valuables, but she said she has no plans to move and will keep on living her life.

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2 McKeesport men charged after allegedly assaulting, robbing 90-year-old woman

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