2 Brooklyn Youths Charged in Attacks on Elderly Couple

Two youths were arrested yesterday and charged with beating an 84-year-old Brooklyn man and returning the next day to assault his 80-year-old wife.

The victims, Philip and Ida Hochman of 867 Pacific Street in the Crown Heights section, were reported to be in serious condition at Brooklyn Hospital with head injuries. The police said the youths, who are 12 and 15 years old and who are neighbors of the Hochmans, went to the couple’s home on March 4th. They saw Mr Hochman on the stairs, emptied his pockets and hit him on the head with a wooden plank before fleeing, the police said. Mr. Hochman, who was found unconscious at the foot of the stairs, was taken to the hospital. But because no foul play was initially suspected, the incident was not reported to the police.

The next day, about noon, according to the police, the same youths returned to the three-story brownstone and forced open the door to the Hochman’s ground floor apartment. They allegedly beat Mrs. Hochman with a wooden club and then ransacked the apartment in search of money. Mrs. Hochman, unconscious, was not discovered by a neighbor until 10:00pm.

excerpt 3/12/77 NYT