An Edmonton man has been charged after an elderly woman was sexually assaulted and her home broken into, police said on Thursday.
They said the assault happened in the area of 50 Street and 25 Avenue. Police were called to the residence at around 1:30 on Wednesday morning.
Officers were told a man broke into the woman’s home and sexually assaulted her. The woman reportedly resisted and the suspect ran away.
Members of the police canine unit patrolled the area but were unable to locate the suspect, police said. After an investigation that involved several units of the Edmonton Police Service, a man was arrested Wednesday afternoon.
“Obviously a very traumatic event when these things happen to anybody in our community, but especially when it’s an elderly woman — one of our vulnerable communities,” EPS spokesperson Scott Pattison said.
“It was a random attack and very traumatizing, I’m sure, and not something you expect to happen. Certainly, these sorts of files are shocking for investigators to deal with as well.”
A neighbour who lives in an apartment building in the area said police came to his door early Wednesday morning asking if he heard any noise coming from a suite in the building.
“They asked me: ‘What happened? Did you hear anything happen?'” he said Thursday afternoon. “‘Did you hear any noise?'”
Patel said he was sleeping at the time and didn’t know what happened. Police came around the building again later Wednesday morning, he said.
“They asked the same questions to everyone in the other units.”
The neighbour said when he learned what happened, he couldn’t believe it.
“It was really shocking,” he said.
“This is terrible,” he continued. “It’s not good at all. We need to be alert and if something happens, we need to tell police. We need to try to be active in what’s going on neighbourhood-wide.”
Ahmed Hassan Iltire, 32, is facing one count each of break and enter and sexual assault. Pattison said Iltire is known to police, but wouldn’t go into further detail “because it could compromise our case going forward.”
The woman was taken to hospital after the attack, but there was no update on her condition on Thursday.
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