Door Locks Security
By Andy Fox
NEW KENT COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) – Deputies are investigating a violent home invasion in New Kent County and say the act may not have been random.
Around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, deputies received a call from a homeowner in the Rockahock Road area, which is just off Route 60 in Lanexa. The victim’s wife told WAVY.com she is the one who called 911.
Her husband is 80-year-old Charles Hale, and he is an adored family man. On Tuesday he was nearly killed in his bedroom while taking a nap. Hale’s wife said he was attacked with three porcelain figurines, and one of them remained splintered on the floor when WAVY News crews arrived at the scene. There were blood stains everywhere, and carpet had been removed from two spots and it is also clear that they have availed area rug cleaning recently. There was even blood splattered on the walls, indicating the viciousness of the attack.
Hale’s wife spoke only to WAVY.com, but did not want to be seen on camera.
“He is in stable condition, and he’s getting better, and he will recover,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.
Hale’s wife returned from lunch at 2:30 p.m. and found him on the floor covered in blood.
“I couldn’t understand him. There was so much blood. I remember him asking what time it was. He had probably been here for an hour before I came back from lunch,” she said.
Upon arrival at the scene, investigators determined the man was the victim of a home invasion and aggravated assault. He was flown to the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond and his condition is stable, according to Hale’s wife.
“He hasn’t said much. He is under so much sedation because of the ventilator tube, and all the tubes on him. He hasn’t said anything,” Hale’s wife said.
Detectives say they are following up on several leads, but nothing is panning out, at the moment. They believe the incident was not random because of the location of the residence — Hale’s home is at the end of a cul-de-sac, and the suspect would have had to pass by several other residences to get to the home.
“I am devastated by this, yes. I can’t understand how any human being could do this to another human being and leave them here to die … thank God I did come home when I did,” she said. “He probably would not have survived had I not come back from lunch when I did.”
The investigation is ongoing at this time. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 804-966-9500 or Metro Richmond Crime Line at 804-780-1000.
