VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Kempsville Lake neighborhood has seen two home invasions all in a week and a half. One of them resulted in the victim, a sailor's mom being brutally beaten.
Tami Russell was brutally attacked with a gun during a home invasion. She's suffering from a broken vertebra in her neck, three broken ribs and a broken jaw.
"I'm in a lot of pain right now, but that’s to be expected due to the ribs and so forth," said Russell.
Russell said it happened the day after Christmas when she was home with a friend. Her doorbell rang and her friend opened the door. That's when she said a man forced himself into her home with a gun demanding money and presents.
“He was hitting me with the side, the butt of a gun," said Russell, who added the suspect was trying to get her to prove she didn't have any money hiding in her clothes.
"He also at one point when he was trying to get my clothes off. He put the gun down my mouth down my throat and told me that he had no problem blowing me away," said Russell.
Nine days after Russell's assault, another home invasion happened in Kempsville Lake, just minutes from where Russell was.
A dispatcher told police a stranger was inside the victim's house and tried to grab her and her children. Police said the home invasion happened around 7:30 on Windbrooke Lane. Officers didn't find a suspect and there was not a sign of forced entry. The victims, a woman and her child, were treated for minor injuries.
Now, Russell is focusing on recovering and being positive.
"If he would have hit me a little harder the fracture would have been deep enough, I could have been paralyzed from the neck down," said Russell, who is being taken care of by her children and grandchildren. She is set to have surgery next week and is raising moneysince she doesn't have health insurance.
She added, "I appreciate y`all [WTKR News 3], big time. And VBPD, please catch these people, this gentleman. I need them to catch him, big time."
Police are asking anyone with information to call the crime line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
