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Daylight home invader beats Holiday man, 77

After seeing a stranger lurking near the home, a neighbor witnesses a bloody scene and calls authorities.

By STEVE THOMPSON
Published October 8, 2005

HOLIDAY - The woman still was in her pajamas when she saw him through her window, a stranger walking across the grass.

She had seen him before, riding through the neighborhood on a bike that looked like two bikes put together. It was yellow in the front and blue in the back.

"He would particularly eye Mr. Beckie's home," the woman said. "Because Mr. Beckie was always home. He always had his garage door open, and he sat out there in the garage."

It was just before 1 p.m. Friday, and the woman walked over to 77-year-old Elvin Beckie's house after seeing the stranger from her window. The garage door was open. So was the door leading from the garage into his house.

She heard what sounded like cabinet doors opening and shutting, she said. She thought she heard Beckie moaning.

She called out his name. "El, El." And the door leading into the house swung shut.

The woman rushed back to her own home to put some clothes on.

"By the time I got my clothes on, I looked out the window again and saw Mr. Beckie was out on his hands and knees," the woman said, "crawling towards my home all full of blood."

The woman, who is not being named here for her protection, called 911. She brought the elderly man wet towels for his wounds while he lay in her front room, and they waited for help.

Pasco sheriff's officials say someone attacked the elderly man as he sat in his garage, sprayed him with pepper spray, beat him severely about the head, and rummaged through his house.

"This is unusual," sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said, "to happen in broad daylight like this."

The elderly man was flown to a hospital in serious condition, Doll said. Officials did not release his name Friday afternoon, but the woman said he is the home's owner, Elvin Beckie.

Beckie has poor eyesight and hearing, she said. He lives there with his wife, who was not there at the time of the attack - and with his dachshund, Max, which he often takes for walks. Property records show the couple has owned the home on Alameda Drive since at least 1992.

Rosie Singer has lived around the corner from the couple for years.

"Poor Elvin, he's such a sweet little man," she said, watching deputies investigate the scene. "That is so sad. He wouldn't harm a flea."

The woman who called 911 said it seemed a long time before help arrived.

"It took at least 20 minutes for the Fire Rescue to get here," she said, "and probably 30 to 35 minutes before I even saw a cop."

But Pasco County Fire Rescue officials said the 911 call came at 12:56, and an ambulance was there at 1:03. Doll said sheriff's dispatchers got the call at 12:57, and the first deputy arrived 18 minutes later at 1:15.

"Our response time to that is not bad," Doll said. "We always try to be as quick as possible. I don't know what traffic was like and where the deputy was coming from."

Sheriff's dispatchers got the call as an elderly man having been beaten, Doll said, and classified it in the second-highest priority category. Whether lights and sirens are used on such "priority two" calls, he said, depends on the details of the call.

Doll said the suspect is described as white, about 5 feet 7, with short and wavy blond hair. He looked to be about 150 pounds and in his early 30s, with a tan complexion, wearing a dingy, light-colored T-shirt.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Greg Hinnant at 1-800-854-2862, ext. 7427.

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Steve Thompson covers crime in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6245. His e-mail address is sthompson@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 8, 2005, 01:26:19]