Two men from the South Australian city of Murray Bridge have been arrested and charged with the kidnapping and assault of an elderly man.
It is alleged that the incident was sparked by a social media conversation between the elderly victim and one of his attackers during the early hours of Saturday 29 February.
The nature of that conversation has not yet been revealed so there are no clues as to whether the victim was arguing with his attackers or was tricked into revealing his address under false pretenses.
The two men appeared at the elderly man’s Murray Bridge home shortly after their online conversation where he was allegedly bound and assaulted with a variety of weapons.
According to reports, the two men attacked the elderly man with a taser and an electric drill before threatening him with a hatchet and demanding money.
Local police were alerted to the incident at 8am on the same morning after the elderly victim managed to escape he captures and raise the alarm.
Murray Bridge police attended a local address later that day where they arrested two men in conjunction with the incident and located a taser, drill, hatchet and duct tape that were allegedly used during the offense.
The two men aged 36 and 20-years-old have been charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, and aggravated robbery.
The attackers were also refused bail and will appear in the Murray Bridge Magistrates Court today.
Police have stated that the elderly victim only received minor superficial injuries during the attack.
This incident is the latest in what appears to be a growing number of assaults and home invasion crimes that target elderly victims in their own homes.
Just last week we reported on a shocking crime involving the assault of an elderly man by a 17-year-old in the South Australian suburb of Goolwa South, a crime for which the attacker was granted bail.
According to online opinion, it appears as though the majority of Australians are fed up with light sentencing for criminals who target vulnerable people like the elderly, highlighted by a public outcry for harsher sentencing and longer prison time.
Image: David Bautista, iStock.
