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Michael Ragsdale, who lives at the apartments, said he saw the unprovoked attack on the second-floor common area about 2:45 p.m. Friday as the victim was working on a puzzle.
Sgt. Aaron Jelcick said the victim is in her 80s. The alleged assailant, 45, is undergoing a mental health evaluation and being interviewed by detectives at Providence St. Peter Hospital, Jelcick said.
It is unknown whether she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he added.
“At this point, there doesn’t appear to be any motive,” Jelcick said.
The alleged assailant was detained in a hallway after police responded, he said. She was behaving erratically in the minutes before the attack, banging on people’s doors and yelling, “Let me in, let me in,” Ragsdale said.
A chair was used in the attack, Jelcick said. Ragsdale added that the assailant hit the victim over the head with the chair. The assailant then jumped on top of the victim as she lay on the ground, punching her, Ragsdale said.
At one point, the assailant “smashed her head into the floor like a basketball,” Ragsdale said. He added that the assailant said “I’ve got to kill her; she’s going to eat the kids” during the attack and growled at him.
“That (woman) basically doesn’t bother anybody,” he said of the victim. Ragsdale said no one else was in the common area when the attack occurred.
Casa Madrona Apartments, in the 3900 block of Martin Way, provides long-term housing to the elderly and disabled.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465
jpawloski@theolympian.com
theolympian.com/thisjustin
@JeremyPawloski
