A District man who posed as a maintenance worker and attacked two people in their 90s has been sentenced to 23 and a half years in prison, officials said.
Tony Ford, 48, pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court in August to two counts of first-degree burglary and a firearms charge.
On two occasions in June, Ford pretended to be a maintenance man in order to get into elderly people’s apartments in the District. He attacked them and stole small amounts of cash.
According to prosecutors, the first incident took place on June 19 at about 5:10 p.m. Ford went to an apartment building for senior citizens on the 1400 block of Florida Avenue NE, knocked on the door of an apartment and claimed that he was checking for leaks in the apartment’s bathroom.
A 91-year-old woman opened the door and let Ford enter the apartment. The two walked into the bathroom, and Ford struck the woman several times in the mouth before pushing her to the floor and tying her up, officials said.
The woman started screaming, but Ford told her that if she didn’t shut up he would kill her. He stole $23 and fled. The woman suffered minor injuries.
The second incident took place on June 26 in the early-afternoon hours at an apartment building for seniors on the 1200 block of G Street SE. Like he did in the first burglary, Ford went to an apartment and pretended to be a maintenance worker checking for leaks in the bathroom.
A 94-year-old man opened the door, and Ford entered the apartment, grabbed the victim from behind and slammed him down on his bed, officials said. He took about $133, tied up the elderly man and fled.
The victim was freed from the restraints several hours later, when a neighbor heard him yelling. He was treated at a hospital for swelling, abrasions and bruising to his wrists.
D.C. police provided the news media with surveillance video connected with the June 19 incident and asked the public to help identify the attacker. While armed with a revolver, Ford told a person that he intended to kill someone who he thought might contact authorities, officials said.
Ford was sentenced on Thursday.
