Illegal Immigrant Savagely Beats and Blind Older Woman

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 17, 2008

A man has been arrested for allegedly beating and blinding a 78-year-old widow inside her Daly City home after she surprised him during a robbery attempt, police said today.

Jose Perez-Gonzalez, 29, was arrested Nov. 26 by Mexican authorities in his hometown of Guadalajara. He has been charged by San Mateo County prosecutors with attempted murder, attempted armed robbery, burglary, mayhem and elder abuse.

On Jan. 12, Perez-Gonzalez, an illegal immigrant living in South San Francisco, was driven to the victim's home in the Serramonte neighborhood by Juan Cuellar, 37, of Daly City, said police Lt. Jay Morena.
As Cuellar waited in his car, Perez-Gonzalez pried open a rear sliding-glass door, police said. When the woman confronted him, Perez-Gonzalez allegedly beat her in the face with his metal pry bar, an attack that left her blind.

The assailant fled with Cuellar, authorities said. Cuellar was later arrested and is being held on a federal immigration violation for being in the United States illegally from El Salvador.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.