Attack leaves voter, 73, in pain and fear

GAMAEL FLEURY

For about four decades, the 73-year-old woman has been making her way to the polling place in her Boston neighborhood, a proud participant in the democratic process since she became an American citizen.

Yesterday, however, feelings of fear overshadowed her pride. Moments after she voted in Roslindale on Tuesday, two men stole her purse and threw her to the sidewalk, breaking her shoulder. A neighbor who is an off-duty Boston police officer rushed to her side.

"In this kind of a situation, you don't think too much," said the woman, who asked that her name not be published because she was afraid for her safety. "Only, you get scared when people try to take everything from you."

The woman's neighbor, Keith Kaplan, told reporters he was dozing in his home at about 6 p.m. after finishing a shift in Brighton, where he is assigned.

"I heard a woman in distress, screaming for help," Kaplan said at news conference at Boston police headquarters. "I just jumped out of bed and looked out the window. And I could see an elderly person on her knees, crying."

He said he grabbed his police radio and gun and rushed to the woman.

Kaplan briefly checked for signs of the men, saw nothing, and then called in a description of them based on what the woman had told him.

According to police and the Suffolk district attorney's office, a father and son who live nearby spotted two men, one of them heavily sweating, on their front step and then saw them move into a neighbor's backyard.

One of the neighbors followed one of the suspects, and when police arrived, pointed him out to the officers.

The man was arrested and charged with attacking the woman. The second suspect escaped.

Authorities identified the captured man as 19-year-old Gamael Fleury of Hyde Park. He was arraigned in West Roxbury Municipal Court, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of unarmed robbery of a person 60 years or older and assault and battery.

After initially setting bail at $25,000 cash, Judge Mary Ann Driscoll ordered Fleury held without bail for violating the terms of his probation for a trespassing charge, according to the district attorney's office.

"It's despicable," District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement. "Only a coward would attack a 73-year-old woman from behind. He's brought shame to himself and his family, and he can count on an extremely aggressive prosecution."

In a primary election marked by low turnout, the woman said she went to the polls to vote for US Senator John F. Kerry.

The native South American said she has been voting regularly since she became an American citizen in the late 1960s.

"I am a citizen of this country, and I have to make my contribution," she said.

The woman lauded Kaplan, whom she described as "compassionate" and a "gentleman."

She said she plans to vote in November - but joked things will be different then. "I go and I ask the police to come for me!"

John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.