An elderly man fended off and detained an intruder who attacked his wife in their San Jose home Monday, and the suspect is now behind bars.
Yusef Youkhaneh, 82, said when he found his wife of 53 years bleeding on their back porch, he sprang into action, determined not to let the attacker get away.
"I hear the scream of my wife; I see my wife is bloody, her head is bloody," Youkhaneh said.
Christina Youkhaneh had gone out to tend to her garden when a woman, believed to be a transient, attacked her with a stick.
"She hit two times in my head; I run from her," Christina Youkhaneh said.
Yusef said the woman in her 30s or 40s was especially strong.
"Oh, like a tiger," he said. "She tried to bite me.
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Yusef said he grabbed the suspect's leg and held her. As the brawl moved to the front of the house and then onto McKee Road, he said he tried to get neighbors to help.
"A lot of people were standing around," he said. "I said, 'Please help me hold her, I am tired.' But nobody helped me."
Yusef said he held on for more than 10 minutes while the suspect scratched and fought. He was able to keep her from running away until sheriff's deputies arrived.
Christina was taken to a hospital to be treated for head injuries and an injured hand.
