Woman arrested for allegedly assaulting and robbing elderly woman

BROOKLINE, Mass. — A woman was arrested after breaking into an elderly woman's home and assaulting and robbing her.

Brookline Police responded to a call from a woman inside an apartment building on Kent Street.

The woman said in the call that she was going upstairs to her mother's apartment, and a woman she didn't recognize ran past her up the stairs. When the caller got to the fifth floor, she saw an elderly woman crying inside of her open apartment.

The alleged witness called police, and the victim in the incident told officers that someone pushed their way into her home, and hurt her wrist.

"When they were treating her, they found her apartment had been ransacked," Brookline Police Deputy Superintendent Michael Gropman said. "So it appeared to be some kind of burglary."

After police interviewed the person who called in the incident, the whole situation took a strange turn.

"She described a woman who was pretty close to what she looked like and was wearing," Gropman said.  "So, from that, we launched an investigation."

Gropman said that woman has since been identified as the break-in suspect, 31-year-old Mabel Rojas, who was caught on surveillance video last week at a pawn shop in New Bedford.

Rojas was brought to the Brookline Police station Tuesday, where she was arrested. The suspect was staying with her mother, who lives in the victim's building.

Residents in the apartment building say they got a memo about the incident, and were glad to hear about the arrest. They were, however, worried something like this could happen again.

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"Yeah, I worry about my safety," one resident said. "I don't open my door though. You call me, then I know you're coming."

Rojas faced a judge for an arraignment Wednesday morning, and is being held on $1,500 bail.

Cox Media Group