A 75-year-old Cockeysville woman is recovering from a beating during a
robbery inside her townhouse Monday morning, and she told 11 News she
didn't go down without a fight.
Gwyn Sirota said she left a door to her home unlocked while she left to walk her dog, D-2, before the incident happened around 8:30 a.m. at her home on Valley Crossing Circle.
Sirota told 11 News she said hello to a young woman and immediately felt uneasy.
"I realized something was not right. My skin bristled, and I started walking up, and by the time I got to that corner, I ran," Sirota said.
Baltimore County police said she returned home to find the woman standing in her dining room, demanding money. Sirota said that's when her stubborn streak kicked in.
"She came down those stairs, and I said, 'Don't you fight with a 75-year-old woman.' And I lit into her," Sirota said.
Police said the woman told Sirota she had a knife, but the homeowner refused to turn over any cash and resisted attempts to have it taken from her.
"When we were fighting, she said to me, 'Don't fight with me, I have a knife.' Well, I didn't see a knife and thought, 'She's just bluffing,' so I kept fighting," Sirota said. "She had me by the neck, and I bit her twice, and I grabbed every part that I can't mention on the news."
Sirota was then dragged into the basement by the woman, who she described as physically fit and in her 20s or 30s.
"I held onto the two banisters and kicked her with my feet, but she had ahold of my shirt, and I just couldn't hold anymore, so I went down the next six stairs, and we fought going across the basement," Sirota said.
Neighbors notice discrepancies, help scare woman off
Neighbors said Sirota takes that walk at the same hour every morning down the same sidewalk and always leaves her door open. They said Sirota is fit, feisty, friendly and a creature of habit.
Neighbor Vivek Khosla said he suspected something was wrong when he spotted Sirota's door closed during this ritual.
"I'm like, 'That's somewhat odd because she doesn't close that door,' and then I went up and rang her bell," Khosla said.
He said he kept ringing the doorbell until Sirota finally answered it.
"Her face was swollen up, and she had a big cut on her lip, which would probably need to be stitched up," Khosla said.
The attacker ran out a back door, and according to neighbors and friends, she stole cash and credit cards.
Sirota said she's glad she put up a fight.
"I have a lot of back pain today, but thank God my teeth are OK and my jaw is OK. I have stitches inside and out of my mouth," she said. "I wasn't going to let her get away with it. If she got out of there, she was going to know that she fought with somebody."
Friends said they started to clean up the mess but decided to hire a professional.
"That must have been quite a fistfight, because there was blood splattered all over the place -- on the walls, on the floor, on the banister," friend Irmgard Hartzelius said.
Friends said Sirota moved into her Valley Crossing townhouse 28 years ago and has been a great neighbor and very involved in the community.
"She'll do anything for anybody, and she's been the secretary and whatever for the community association," Hartzelius said. "She would give away her shirt. You could always count on her."
Sirota was taken to Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where she was treated and released. Her friends greeted her with flowers Monday afternoon.
"I don't know what I would do without you," Sirota told them.
Police said they took fingerprints from the home and are still working on a suspect description.
