Phoenix police say 22-year-old Andrew Mathieson broke into a 76-year-old woman's home near 23rd Svenue and Loop 101 around 4 a.m. Saturday, and stole the woman's car after strangling her unconscious.
Mathieson was arrested yesterday, and told police many of the details, according to court documents obtained by New Times, but was "intoxicated to the point of blacking out and does not remember" some things, like what he did to the car after driving it for about five miles.
According to the documents, the woman told police she had fallen asleep while watching Matlock around 4 a.m., and woke up when she heard what she thought were mice in her kitchen.
Turns out, there was a man in her kitchen, who strangled her unconscious. When she woke up, her pants were pulled down, the door to her residence was wide open, and her purse and car were missing.
About four hours later, someone called the cops to report a car that had been driven into an embankment -- about five miles from the victim's home -- and police say it looked like someone tried to light the car on fire, although it didn't quite catch.
An ID card was found in the car, so police naturally caught up with the owner of that ID, who told police that he gave it to a guy named "Drew," so that "Drew" could get into a bar earlier that night.
Police took that information to their database, and came back with Andrew Mathieson's name. The owner of that ID confirmed that a photo of Andrew Mathieson was "Drew."
Mathieson was arrested on outstanding warrants, and sure enough, had the elderly woman's credit cards in his pocket, according to court documents.
Mathieson told police he was intoxicated when the attack happened, and he wasn't even sure why he picked that woman's home. He did agree that he hit the woman in the face, and said he put his hand on her face "in an attempt to get her to stop yelling," court documents state.
He said that he stole her car, and parked it near the embankment where it was found, but denied lighting it on fire. That's when Mathieson said he was pretty much blackout drunk and didn't really remember.
Mathieson was jailed on several felony charges, and his bond was set at $25,000.
