Iqaluit man, 30, charged in last May’s brutal attack on elder

A 73-year-old elder living in one of these units suffered a brutal assault this past May during a home invasion. (FILE PHOTO)

The Iqaluit RCMP have arrested and charged a man they believe is responsible for a brutal home invasion this past May, when a handicapped elder was attacked in her bed while she slept.

John John Pauloosie, 30, was arrested Sept. 8 and faces charges of assault and breaking and entering, the RCMP’s “V” Division announced in a news release Sept. 13.

Police said Pauloosie will be held in remand custody until his first court appearance, scheduled for Oct. 3 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.

The charges against him have yet to be proven in court.

The charges stem from an attack on May 9 when a 73-year-old elder was hospitalized with serious injuries to her face and head after she was attacked while she slept.

The women suffers from mobility issues and is confined to a wheelchair during the day, so she could not escape, a source told Nunatsiaq News last May.

The woman’s apartment is in a row of elders’ housing units adjacent to the Qammaq elders centre in Iqaluit, and her front door was alleged to have been unlocked at the time of the assault, a source said.

In August, another elder living in an apartment near the Qammaq reported to the Iqaluit RCMP that she had electronics stolen after her unit was broken into.

The string of break-ins at elders’ residences provoked outrage from some Iqaluit residents, who called on the Iqaluit Housing Authority—which manages the units—to provide better security for elders.