2 Teens Arrested After Home Invasion, Attack Elderly Valley Woman Beaten; Suspects Allegedly Stole Car

Two teenagers are suspected of breaking into an elderly Spokane Valley woman’s home Thursday night, beating her until her eyes swelled shut and then stealing her car, deputies and relatives said.

The suspects - a 16-year-old boy and his 14-year-old friend - were arrested near Hayden Lake, Idaho, not long after the incident.

Spokane County sheriff’s inspector Dave Wiyrick said they were driving the victim’s 1988 Oldsmobile and there was evidence of the assault in the car.

They were booked into the Kootenai County juvenile detention center on suspicion of possession of stolen property and held overnight. A Spokane County detective drove to Coeur d’Alene on Friday to interview them. They may be extradited to Spokane next week to face assault charges.

Deputies did not release their names.

“This was a real vicious attack,” Wiyrick said. “Her injuries are consistent with some kind of weapons being used.”

He would not say what the weapons were.

The 68-year-old woman managed to lock up her house and go to a neighbor’s for help after the attack, relatives said. She was taken to a hospital, where she was listed in stable condition Friday.

“She’s a tough old bird,” said her son-in-law, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We’d like to do everything we can to protect her privacy.”

The victim is expected to recover but may require surgery to repair damage to her eyes, her daughter said.

The attack occurred about 10:30 p.m. in the woman’s home on 10th Avenue, not far from University High School.

The victim, who works part-time at a nursing home and lives alone, was in her living room watching television when the assailants came upstairs from the basement, her daughter said.

They apparently had broken into the basement through a window and had helped themselves to alcohol the victim kept in a downstairs bar, the son-in-law said. “It looks like they had themselves a little party,” he said.

They then attacked her, stole the contents of her purse and drove off in her car, her daughter said.

“It almost looks like they cased the place,” the daughter said. The victim does not know her attackers, she added.

Sheriff’s Capt. John Simmons said the attack appeared to be a “crime of opportunity, probably with robbery as the motive.”

At the time of his arrest, the 16-year-old boy had an outstanding warrant charging him with child rape, Simmons said.