A 16-year-old boy was arrested and placed in Juvenile Hall Monday after he admitted attacking a 78-year old woman in Lemon Grove, according to deputies.
Sgt. Jeff Maxin with the sheriff's department said the teen, who is a documented gang member, was arrested by San Diego Police Monday morning in connection to at least two other robberies. Maxin said the boy confessed to committing the assault on the woman on Sunday.
Maria Socorro Garcia, 78, said on Monday that she was walking home on the 3200 block of Massachusetts Avenue at about 9:30 a.m. when at least two boys grabbed her, ripped off her necklace and pushed her to the ground. The boys then ran away.
"What happened? Why did they push me?" Garcia wondered on Monday.
Garcia, who suffered scrapes and bruises to her legs and shoulders, was taken to Alvarado Hospital for treatment and then released.
"It's cowardly," Maxin said. "I think that's what it comes across to a lot of people. And to see a victim that is 78 years old, a feeble and easy target, and to pull her down to the ground is cowardly."
Garcia, who says she is diabetic and visually impaired, said she will be OK but is now afraid to walk outside of her own home.
