
An inmate at a county jail in New York has been charged with breaking into the home of an elderly woman in Stoughton and assaulting her six years ago, local police said Tuesday.
Stanley Mitchell, 34, was arrested last week at the Broome County Correctional Facility in Binghamton, charging him with the 2019 attack on the 82-year-old woman, Stoughton police said in a statement.
Mitchell, of Newton, N.J., is the second man arrested in connection to the incident. In 2019, a co-conspirator was arrested in Florida, according to a statement from Stoughton police.
Sergeant Robert Kuhn, a detective on the case at the time, never gave up pursuing the suspects, Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara said in the statement.
Mitchell is charged with entering a dwelling by false pretenses with the intent to commit a felony, larceny over $1,200, conspiracy, witness intimidation, and vandalizing property, police said in a statement.
He was indicted in Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham Friday and was ordered held on $35,000 bail, the statement said.
Advertisement
Mitchell, who had been on the run, failed to appear in court for a pre-trial conference in August 2024, police said. A default warrant was issued as a result.
He then waived his extradition to return to Massachusetts, the statement said.
The Broome County district attorney’s office assisted Stoughton police in arranging Mitchell’s extradition, police said. Officers traveled to New York on March 20 to return Mitchell to Massachusetts.
The alleged crime occurred on Feb. 2, 2019, at 1:20 p.m., when police responded to Halliden Place after reports of a house break-in, the statement said.
Investigators discovered that a man posed as a utility worker, “forcibly” entered the home, pushed the 82-year-old woman, stole approximately $4,000 in valuables, and fled the scene, according to the statement.
Following a review of surveillance video, subpoenaing records, and collaboration with local, state, and federal law enforcement officials, Mitchell was identified as the suspect, police said.
Kiera McDonald can be reached at kiera.mcdonald@globe.com.