When a man decided to beat a 94-year-old veteran nearly to death while robbing her, he made one big mistake that he’d quickly come to regret when he was made to pay a hefty price for it.
Josephine Regnier, a 94-year-old World War II veteran living alone in Chicago, likely saw her share of hell while serving our country. Sadly, the city where she was living out her golden years had become a suburban war zone that wasn’t much better, and Josephine would suffer the consequences when she felt the wrath of a violent criminal at her own home in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood.
While waiting outside her home for one of her daughters to pick her up to go to the dentist just before noon on a Wednesday morning, she found herself being ambushed by a 200-pound violent criminal in broad daylight. The man pushed the elderly veteran into the hallway of her building, where he began beating the small, frail woman, and he didn’t stop until she was in bad shape.
Sickeningly, the suspect did it all for one disturbing reason; namely, he wanted her purse, which he could have simply ripped from her hands before taking off. Instead, the thief brutally beat Josephine as she waited for her daughter. The assault left her with three fractured ribs, bruises on her face including a black eye, a possible concussion, and other injuries, Patch reported.
After robbing and assaulting the elderly woman, the thief then took off in a stolen vehicle with her handbag, leaving the bloodied grandmother lying on the ground. He soon crashed into a dumpster, but he was undeterred. Ditching the SUV in an alley about a block away from Josephine’s home, he took off on foot while clutching the woman’s purse. Meanwhile, Josephine was rushed to a local hospital before being transferred to Edwards Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in serious condition.
“This man just came in the gangway and assaulted her, beat the s— out of her, took her purse and ran,” Judy Dusk, one of Josephine’s daughters, told ABC 7. “She’s 94 years old. He didn’t have to beat her up. He could have just taken her purse and left. I don’t know what compelled him to do that. He’s a coward.”
Not only was the man a coward, but he was also an idiot who made one massive mistake as well. The criminal learned the hard way that there are literally cameras everywhere — something he apparently overlooked while running from the SUV with Josephine’s purse, leaving his face uncovered and in full view for the world to see — and that’s exactly what happened.
With a clear image of the suspect captured by the nearby Villa Rosa Pizza security camera, it wasn’t long before everyone was looking for him. In the footage, the man gave everyone a full view of his face, and police were quickly able to launch a manhunt while the badly injured veteran he had beaten was in the hospital recovering from the ruthless attack.
In hopes of tracking him down and bringing him to justice, the man’s image was shared with the public, who was asked to help identify him. Eventually, someone did, and Olajuwon Claiborne was arrested a few days following the attack. Ironically, he was turned in by a former jailhouse buddy, according to a follow-up report by ABC 7.
Claiborne pleaded guilty to charges of home invasion and robbery in connection with the attack and was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Cook County judge. The sentencing left Josephine Regnier, who had turned 95 by that time, conflicted. “He’s got a long life ahead of him, why spend it in jail?” she asked rhetorically.
Seemingly realizing the same thing, Claiborne tearfully apologized to the elderly woman he had so viciously beaten, which Josephine said was the reason she went to his sentencing. “That was the reason why I was here, he apologized and I feel good for that, but I feel sorry for him,” she explained.
Josephine’s daughter seemed to share in her mother’s conflicted feelings about the ordeal. “It’s a very emotional thing,” Joan O’Connor said. “I feel bad that someone has to go to jail,” she added, “but at the same time it’s good to know that he will not be able to injure anyone for a while.”
During WWII, Josephine Regnier served in the U.S. Navy. While stationed in Brooklyn, she processed soldiers as they came home from the war. She was honored by the Bridgeview Lion’s Club with its Veteran of the Year award and greeted with a standing ovation. That’s the respect she deserves. Thankfully, it sounds like Olajuwon Claiborne got what he deserved as well. Two decades should be plenty of time to think about his life choices.
Source: Tap Worthy Happenings
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