KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An elderly couple was beaten and robbed at their home in the middle of the day. The victims are now in the hospital and expected to be okay. Police say the couple can rest a little easier after a car chase led to an arrest and charges against the suspect.
Tony Putman, 18, faces forcible rape, two counts of 2nd degree robbery and other charges after breaking into a couple’s home at 73rd & Campbell on Monday.
“A suspect broke into the home and attacked the only person in the home, a guy who lives there born in 1919,” said Capt. Steve Young with KCPD.
Putman hit a 93-year-old man who lived at the home and tied him up with belts. His 84-year-old wife came home from running errands and heard her husband moaning. After checking on her husband, the attacker confronted her. He bound her also and demanded money. She then game Putman $400 before being forced upstairs in the home and raped.
“He attacked her as well and continued to ransack the home and ultimately left in the victim’s vehicle,” Young said.
The battered and beaten couple was able to get to a phone shortly after the suspect left and called for help.
“We got the call and were able to get the information on the vehicle out over the radio and officers started looking for it,” Young said.
Almost everyone in the department was on the lookout.
“Dispatchers have the ability to hit a button and broadcast information over all six patrol divisions airwaves at the same time so everybody gets it,” he said.
Since the information went out so fast and so many people were on the lookout, there was no problem tracking down the suspect. The suspect wasn’t alone and didn’t pull over right away. The scenario ended at Hickman and Longview in south Kansas City.
A detective and crime scene techs spent Monday afternoon gathering evidence at the victims’ home. They tried to figure out if anything was taken and why.
Putman is being held in the Jackson County Jail. Prosecutors have requested a bond of $200,000.
