By Marisela Burgos
ARCADIA, Ind. (Oct. 20, 2014)– Two men have been arrested, accused of beating up a Hamilton County WWII Veteran.
Joseph Lowe, 26, of Indianapolis and Justin Lawson, 27, of Cicero were formally charged Monday.
Lowe was charged with burglary, theft, residential entry, criminal mischief, and conspiracy to commit robbery.
Lawson was charged with burglary, theft, residential entry, criminal mischief, robbery, criminal confinement, battery with injury, intimidation, strangulation, and criminal recklessness with a weapon.
Authorities say the crime happened after 11 p.m. on October 9 inside Hershel Moore’s home in Arcadia. His family could not believe two people would intentionally hurt a 94-year-old man.
“It’s just awful to see your parent –especially at his age- to see what he went through and it’s not been a week and look how strong he is now,” Moore’s daughter, Sandra Tolley said.
Lowe and Lawson have been accused of breaking into Moore’s home, hitting him, tying his hands, and stealing more than $2,000. They are accused of stealing other items that belonged to Moore.
“This kind of stuff shouldn’t be happening in the first place,” Moore said.
According to authorities, Lawson used a garage near Moore’s house and told Lowe, before the crime occurred, that he knew about someone who had money.
“That’s very bothersome. It really…it’s been a very scary experience, but I’m glad they got them off the streets so they don’t hurt anybody else every again,” Tolley said.
Eleven days after the crime, Moore continues to recover from his injuries. He said he has some sore spots that need to heal.
“I think maybe the man upstairs was on my side. He’s been on my side more than once throughout my life. If he hadn’t of been, I wouldn’t (be) setting here today,” Moore said.
Moore is a WWII Veteran that fought in the war to protect people’s rights and he said he hopes the two men who violated his rights get what they deserve.
“I got banged up a little bit in World War II. I’ve recovered from that. I guess it takes more than a war to keep a good man down,” Moore said.
Lowe and Lawson declined to do any interviews. They are being held at the Hamilton County Jail.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Lawson’s bail was raised to $360,000 because of a failure to appear arrest warrant out of Dearborn County.