87-year-old beaten, robbed by 3 home intruders: 'Three guys is more than I could handle'

Hope Schreiber
·Writer
Paul Schmidt, 87, was robbed by three home intruders on Wednesday in his neighborhood in San Diego. (NBC San Diego)
Paul Schmidt, 87, was robbed by three home intruders on Wednesday in his neighborhood in San Diego. (NBC San Diego)

An 87-year-old man, who was beaten and robbed by three home invaders, has only one regret from the attack: He was not able to stop them and now other people may be in danger.

Paul Schmidt of Clairemont, a neighborhood in San Diego, Calif., has lived in his home for 52 years and raised seven children there, but now he thinks times have changed, and it may be wise to install the security cameras he has been considering.

On Wednesday, just after 3 p.m., three men forced their way through Schmidt's front door, according to NBC San Diego. Schmidt was installing a new ceiling fan when they entered, and one of the intruders grabbed a pair of scissors nearby. They were there to rob him.

"He grabbed the scissors and he threatened me with it," the grandfather of 22 grandchildren recalls. "He said there is three of us and one of you, and we're robbing you."

Schmidt was injured during the robbery, suffering wrist and arm wounds and a head injury that resulted in an hour at the emergency room, but he wisely decided not to take on the three men — and it may have saved his life.

When one of the intruders grabbed Schmidt's wallet, he pulled hard on the robber’s beard. In retaliation, the man started to beat Schmidt and picked up a fan bladed, hitting him on the head.

“It wouldn't be wise to be dead, and I didn't know if they had guns or what,” Schmidt told the station. “What could I do? Maybe one or two guys I could handle, but three? Three guys is more than I could handle. I'm pretty old now. Eighty-seven. I ain't one of those crazy people anymore."

The three men spent a terrifying 40 minutes ransacking Schmidt's house, getting away with approximately $800 in cash, credit and bank cards, bags full of other items from the home, his 2007 maroon Honda Ridgeline pickup truck, and new vests, which Schmidt purchased for his "Barbershop Harmony" group.

Schmidt currently lives with a roommate, who was not home during the incident. One of his sons also lives next door, but no one in his family was home either.

"I've been thinking about putting up an alarm and cameras, and I haven't done it," Schmidt said. "See what happens? We live in a different age now. You never know."

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