TEEN HELD FOR ALLEGEDLY ROBBING ELDER ON ELECTION NIGHT Sept. 17, 2008 A 19-year-old Hyde Park man was held without bail today following his arraignment for allegedly robbing a 73-year-old woman and breaking her shoulder as she returned home from voting, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced. Prosecutors recommended that GAMAEL FLEURY (D.O.B. 5/12/89) be held on $25,000 cash bail on charges of unarmed robbery of a person over 60 and assault and battery. Judge Mary Ann Driscoll set that bail and also ordered Fleury held without bail for violating his open probation on an unrelated trespassing case. “It’s despicable,” Conley said of the incident. “This conduct is simply appalling. If there’s anything positive about this case, it’s that so many residents – strangers among them – immediately took action to help the victim, return her belongings, and apprehend the perpetrator.” Fleury and another unknown assailant allegedly attacked the woman from behind, pushing her to the ground and breaking her shoulder. Prosecutors allege that they stole her purse and began to flee the scene. An off-duty Boston Police officer inside his nearby home heard her cries for help. Looking out his window and seeing the victim on the ground, he immediately grabbed his department issued radio and went to assist her. The officer obtained a description of the assailants and broadcast it to active patrol cars. Simultaneously, another resident of the area went outside to investigate two strangers who had gone into his backyard. That man’s son was doing yard work nearby and saw the strangers running into the back yards and then emerging; one of the strangers, later identified as Fleury, had apparently changed his shirt. The resident followed the strangers until he spotted police, then pointed them out to the officers. Both of these witnesses led police to the back yard of their home, where officers recovered a black do-rag, a sweatshirt, and a sweater that Fleury had allegedly been wearing during the robbery. Yet another witness soon arrived at the Boston Police District 5 station and turned in a purse she had found on her recycling bin – the purse, it was soon determined, that had been stolen from the 73-year-old victim. Fleury was positively identified as the assailant. His accomplice, whose identity remains under investigation, made good his escape. The victim was transported to an area hospital, where she is receiving treatment. “Only a coward would attack a 73-year-old woman from behind,” Conley said. “He’s brought shame to himself and his family, and he can count on an extremely aggressive prosecution.” Fleury will return to court on Oct. 9 with attorney Neil Connolly. Return to the Press Releases page.