Two Lebanon city women charged in assault of elderly Cleona man (Updated)

Updated Sept. 28 to include additional information from court documents.

Two Lebanon city women were arrested after allegedly attacking an elderly stroke victim on his property in Cleona Borough.

Aurialis Cruz-Delgado, 18, and Angelise Erausquin, 19, both of Lebanon, were charged with simple assault, harassment, and disorderly conduct following the Sept. 5 incident on East Penn Avenue, according to Cleona Borough Police.

Police said the elderly victim, who suffered a stroke several years ago and has limited sight in one eye, found the two women sitting on his front steps. They allegedly attacked him after he asked them to leave his property.

A neighbor witnessed the assault and called police. Officers observed facial injuries on the victim, whose medical condition affected his ability to recall specific details of the incident, according to the news release.

The defendants were found walking on U.S. Route 422 in North Cornwall Township and claimed the victim was the aggressor, police said.

However, surveillance video from a local business showed Erausquin punching the victim from behind and striking him several times before he fell to the ground, according to police. Cruz-Delgado then joined the assault, punching and kicking the victim while he was down.

Officer Matthew Deitrich filed the charges against both women.

Cleona Borough Mayor Larry Minnich and the police chief checked on the victim, who sustained a black eye and facial swelling, according to the news release.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, officers were first contacted by a neighbor who had observed the assault and immediately called police. The neighbor told police that she had seen the man on the ground with two individuals, who both looked to be female, hitting and kicking the victim. The neighbor told police that the two individuals had walked east on U.S. Route 422 towards Lebanon city. The neighbor’s granddaughter also provided a brief video of the suspects on W. Cumberland Street. Meanwhile, another Cleona officer spoke with the man and confirmed his injuries would constitute criminal charges. Police then made contact with the two women on W. Cumberland Street in front of Moyer Nissan.

The women told police that they had been sitting on the sidewalk in front of the man’s house when he approached them and “began getting in their face” about smoking cigarettes. The women told police that the man shoulder bumped Erausquin and that they only hit him in “self defense.” The women also told police repeatedly that the man was “drugged” or on drugs.

Police then followed up with the man, who due to his stroke and related complications did not have much recollection of the encounter.

However, footage from the security system at a business in the borough caught the entire incident on camera. Police said the footage showed the women sitting on the steps on the sidewalk in front of the man’s house with the man then approaching the duo. However, police said, the footage did not show him appearing to get in their face. Police said that the footage showed the man attempting to walk away before one of women cut off his path. A second verbal exchange followed before the man began to walk away again; at that point, police said, Erausquin “follows the male and gets very close to him and as the male turns his back again, appears to punch the male.” Police said the woman continued to punch the man until he ended up on the ground, at which point Cruz-Delgado joined the assault “where more punches and kicks were thrown.”

Erausquin and Cruz-Delgado have a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 16 at 8:30 a.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge John W. Ditzler.