Cedar Rapids Police hope a vehicle that’s been recovered in Arkansas can provide more clues about two men who beat and sexually assaulted a 70-year-old woman in her home.

On October 1, 2009, two black men broken into the elderly woman’s home in Cedar Rapids and demanded money. When she didn’t get them any cash, they beat her severely.  Then, according to police, while one of the men searched the house, the other sexually assaulted the 70-year-old.  The men took the victim’s car.  The car was found in North Little Rock, Arkansas, last Friday.

“We would love to find these two — and I don’t use the word gentleman in this case — we would like to find these two thugs because that’s the only word I can say on the radio that’s going to be decent,” Cedar Rapids Police Sergeant Cristy Hamblin said during an interview with Radio Iowa. 

The police report indicates it took over an hour at the hospital to stitch up the elderly woman’s wounds after the attack. The victim described the suspects as slender black men.  Both were wearing black hoodies and black pants. They stole the woman’s 2004 Chrysler Sebring. Hamblin said the police department in Little Rock has conducted some tests on the car, and they’re waiting to hear if any usable fingerprints have been recovered.

“We haven’t given up.  We want to find them and we want to hold them accountable,” Hamblin said, “not just for the victim, but for the community as well.” 

The elderly woman told police she was sleeping on the couch when the men kicked in the door to her home.  She was able to call police at about 3 a.m., after the men had left in her car.

Cedar Rapids police have released photos taken on a city bus earlier this month, in hopes of nabbing people who took advantage of a woman with “special needs.”

The crime happened on December 11.  A 23-year-old woman with special needs who works at Goodwill got on a Cedar Rapids bus at about 4:15 that afternoon.  When she realized she was on the wrong bus, she got off when the bus stopped near Lindale Mall.  But the woman left her purse on the seat.

According to Cedar Rapids police, a couple on the bus “took advantage” of the situation.  Rather than turning the purse in to lost and found, the man and woman on the bus took the purse.  A little less than two hours later, a credit card from the 23-year-old’s purse was used at a store in Marion.

According to the photos Cedar Rapids police have released from the bus surveillance camera, the white female suspect “appears to be in her 20s” and has brown hair.  The white male suspect has brown hair, but he has a small bald spot on the front of his head.

Police say the two got into a white SUV after they used the stolen credit card.  Cedar Rapids Police Sergeant Cristy Hamblin says the video from the bus shows a black man who was riding on the bus tried to talk the two thieves out of taking the purse.

“He was appalled that these two individuals were stealing,” Hamblin says.  “They knew that the purse…belonged to a special needs individual and so he was appalled. We would love to talk with him as well just because he could be helpful with the case.”

Call 1-800-CR-CRIME if you recognize either of the suspects; a reward is being offered for information which leads to an arrest.