Cape Cod man charged with holding 87-year-old great-grandmother against her will in home invasion

A Falmouth, Massachusetts man is accused of breaking into an elderly couple's home through a window and holding an 87-year-old against her will.

Falmouth police said it was around 9 p.m. on Memorial Day when the great-grandmother heard noises and went into a bedroom.

That's when police allege that 27-year-old Neil O'Flaherty "grabbed her by the neck and shoulders and proceeded to drag her down the hallway to the living room."

Police say the suspect tried to kiss the victim, pushed her to the floor, then covered her face with a blanket, "restricting her breathing."

The commotion and victim's screams for help finally woke up her husband, who police say is 87, blind and uses a walker. That's when O'Flaherty ran away through a window.

However, investigators said the suspect continued his crime spree in Mashpee where police got a call about a break-in at a home on Wheeler Road on June 1.

Police said O'Flaherty was positively identified as the suspect responsible for the Wheeler Road break-in and was arrested by the Mashpee Police Department.

He was arraigned in Falmouth District Court and released.

When detectives tied O'Flaherty to the elderly couple's home invasion, he was arrested again. This time he's being held, which comes as a relief to neighbors.

"It's terrifying to hear that something so close to home has happened," one neighbor said. "It's such a quiet neighborhood."

O'Flaherty is charged with aggravated burglary, kidnapping, assault with intent to murder, assault and battery on a person age 60 or older and breaking and entering in the nighttime for a felony.