91-Year-Old Attacked While Visiting Wife’s Grave in California

Authorities are looking for a suspect who allegedly attacked a 91-year-old man while he was visiting his wife’s gravesite in California.

Santa Clara police announced Thursday that the attack took place September 14 at 10:45 a.m. at Mission City Memorial Park Cemetery. The elderly man was sitting on a lawn chair, and the suspect allegedly hit him from behind with a rock.

The suspect “took property from the victim” before fleeing on foot and by bicycle, police said. The victim received medical treatment at a nearby hospital and is now recovering at home.

Santa Clara police Capt. Wahid Kazem said the attack was “unprovoked and ruthless.”

“This is completely and utterly an unprovoked and ruthless assault on one of the most vulnerable members of our community,” Kazem told NBC Bay Area.

Authorities said the attack is an isolated incident but urged members of the public to “report any suspicious activity.”

Police described the suspect as a 35- to 50-year-old man of Hispanic or Latino descent about six feet tall with medium build. He was last seen with gray, slicked-back hair, wearing a white T-shirt and long, black shorts:

Denise Martin, who bicycles through Mission City Memorial Park almost daily, told KPIX that the victim is “a lovely gentleman” who spends an hour or two at the gravesite visiting his deceased wife and called the attack “sickening.”