Caretaker, Husband Accused in Violent Peninsula Home Invasion Robbery Appear in Court

REDWOOD CITY, CA – An elderly woman's caretaker and the caretaker's husband pleaded not guilty Monday to multiple felony charges for allegedly putting a pillowcase over the woman's head while ransacking her house in unincorporated El Granada earlier this month, San Mateo County prosecutors said.

Zoranna Mapapalangi, 38, and her husband Antonio Mapapalangi, 33, pleaded not guilty to felony robbery, burglary, assault, elder abuse and criminal threats charges, according to the district attorney's office.

The offenses allegedly occurred at the home where the 75-year-old victim lived in the 200 block of Coral Reef Avenue in El Granada, San Mateo County sheriff's officials said.

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• El Granada Woman, 75, Attacked in Violent Home Invasion Robbery, Caretaker Arrested: Police

Deputies responded at 12:04 a.m. on Aug. 14 to the home, where the victim said she was sleeping when someone put the pillowcase on her head and bound her wrists, according to the sheriff's office.

One intruder, who the victim identified as having a female voice, demanded money. When the victim refused to reveal where any money was, the suspects ransacked the home, sheriff's officials said.

The victim could not see the suspects but thought she recognized the female voice as that of her caretaker. The suspects eventually fled with money and the victim's property, prosecutors said. The victim was not injured.

Antonio Mapapalangi was eventually arrested on Thursday morning in San Mateo and Zoranna was arrested later that day in Daly City, sheriff's officials said.

The suspects, both Half Moon Bay residents, remain in custody on $500,000 bail and will return to court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 1, prosecutors said.

– By Bay City News Service.

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(Images courtesy: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office)