Apparent home attack leaves elderly Cullman woman hospitalized

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Police tape surrounds the home of an elderly Cullman woman who was apparently attacked there early Monday morning.

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December 3, 2012

Apparent home attack leaves elderly Cullman woman hospitalized

By Benjamin Bullard The Cullman Times The Cullman Times Mon Dec 03, 2012, 11:44 AM CST

CULLMAN — Cullman police have few leads after a possible assault on an elderly woman, following an apparent early-morning attack at a residence near Cullman High School that sent the victim to the hospital with facial injuries.

Assistant Cullman police chief Craig Green said the 85 year-old victim, whose name has not been released, lives alone near the corner of Fourth Avenue and 14th Street. Neighbors had seen and spoken with the woman late Sunday afternoon, and had confirmed to investigators that her appearance at that time was normal.

But at 7:30 a.m. Monday, city fire and police were dispatched to the victim’s home after neighbors placed a 911 call reporting the woman, who has live alone at the residence for years, was in distress.

“At that point, we thought it was probably a medical call,” said Green early Monday. “The victim was transported by ambulance to CRMC. But the doctor who examined her believes it was not medical; he believes she was assaulted. What we know for sure is that she’s got some trauma to her face and head area, but she is being taken to another hospital in Birmingham now, and we have an investigator who is traveling with her and will be informed if it appears she suffered any other injuries.”

Green said the victim’s injuries, while disturbing, do not appear to be life-threatening and that the victim is alert.

An initial room-by-room canvassing of the house and its contents didn’t reveal a motive for the apparent attack.

“Right now, we don’t see that anything has been stolen; we really don’t find a motive for why someone would get in and harm her. There was no forced entry into the house,” said Green. “This is a person who is a cornerstone of this little community, so to speak, and there’s a lot of interest in her welfare from the people who live in this area.”

Contact the Cullman police department at 256-734-1434 if you have information about the case.

The Times will continue to update this story as details become available.

‰Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.