MEMPHIS, Tenn. — 87-year-old Fred Hilsabeck has lived in his Frayser neighborhood for more than five decades — helping kids put air in their tires and trying to be a good neighbor.
However, the last year has been a nightmare for him.
“When I opened the door, they forced their way in,” Hilsabeck said.
In November 2015, police said the two men attacked the senior, cuffed him and put a gun to his head.
“They kept wanting to know ‘where’s the money,'” Hilsabeck recalled.
The robbers got his debit card and PIN information.
Hilsabeck said he was then locked inside his bedroom.
“Pushed me into this closet and they closed the door,” he said.
The men were caught on camera driving away and trying to use the victim’s card.
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Not even one year later, Hilsabeck was held prisoner in his own home again last month.
“They taped my hands together like this and my feet,” Hilsabeck told WREG.
This time, he said, the suspects had their faces covered.
“He came over that fence right there by the door. He had a gun in his hand — pushed me into the house,” Hilsabeck said.
The bad guys snatched two TVs, a DVD player and a car before getting away.
The vehicle was later found ditched on the side of the road.
“I don’t know. It’s just — makes you feel like you’re not safe,” Hilsabeck said.
The elderly man is now looking over his shoulder and wondering if the house he’s called home for so long is safe to live in anymore.
“I’ve been here for 50 years and it’s — to have someone to force me to move doesn’t sit right with me,” he said.
It is unclear if the robberies are connected, but police said the suspects fit the same description.
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