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One of the top stories of the year was an attack on a 72-year-old woman residing at The Osborn retirement community on Theall Road in Rye by an early morning intruder wielding a knife. Police have yet to make an arrest in the incident.
At 1 a.m. Monday, Aug. 27, two security guards saw an intruder enter the building through the parking garage, according to The Osborn’s CEO Mark Zwerger. The door has an electronic lock, and Zwerger said the man may have had a key. When guards couldn’t find the man, they asked the police to help in the search. While police were investigating, they received a 911 call from a resident in the 4000 building.
The woman told police she had awakened to find a person with a knife in her apartment. She struggled with him and suffered facial and head injuries before he fled. The woman was admitted to Greenwich Hospital for treatment.
Police with bloodhounds worked with Osborn security guards and staff to search the area.
The intruder left behind a 5-inch-long cylindrical object wrapped in duct tape with a piece of string attached that looked as if it could be a fuse. The Westchester County Police bomb squad was called in, and the object turned out to be tennis balls strung together to possibly look like an explosive device, said William Connors, a Rye police commissioner.
By noon that day, the woman was released from the hospital.
Zwerger promised increased security at the upscale retirement community.
“It’s a very unusual occurrence. It’s a very safe place, and to get onto the campus you have to walk on, because it is gated,” he said. “It was one of those things where this guy was able to get through, and fortunately the resident is still with us to tell the tale.”
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