HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - An elderly man who was roughed up and robbed by two armed assailants spoke out, Tuesday.
Seventy-six-year-old grandfather Jose Luis Valdes traveled from Cuba to visit his 1-year-old granddaughter. Both were simply relaxing at their East 52nd Street home when the two home invaders made their way into the house.
According to Valdes, the robbers came inside through the side door, sneaking up on him and his granddaughter.
The grandfather decided he was going to fight back.
“Of course I am going to be afraid,” said Valdes, speaking through a translator. “I had no other choice but to fight. Not because of me but because of my granddaughter. She came out and she said, ‘Grandpa, no!'”
After putting up a fight, the 76-year-old suffered gashes on his head from being hit with a pistol. The invaders then took money and jewelry.
“I was lucky,” said Valdes. “They could’ve basically shot me. Someone with a gun in their hand, it’s not easy.”
He said when the two robbers escaped through the back door, they jumped a white fence that led right into the canal.
Hialeah Police caught the two robbers shortly after their quick dive into the water.
Valdes is still in disbelief that all of this happened on his American vacation. “The last thing I expected was to get held up, but that happens anywhere,” said Valdes, “and a lot of people can’t fight, but I did.”
The jewelry and cash were able to be returned.
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