NEWARK, Ohio -- A man who targeted an elderly Newark woman pleaded and was sentenced.
It's a story NBC 4 has been following since last November, and there was an update to report Tuesday.
David Ball, 44, of Newark pleaded no contest to several charges related to a December robbery and was sentenced to 17 years Tuesday.
Ball was arrested Friday, Dec. 13, 2008.
Licking County sheriff’s deputies, along with Newark police, responded to a report of a home invasion late Thursday, Dec. 12, 2008, in the 1500 block of Mount Vernon Road.
Ball threatened 87-year-old Dorothy Maddox at gunpoint. He demanded cash and took her Christmas money.
He fled Maddox's home on a bicycle, hid under a van and even stuffed the stolen Christmas cash under the van's gas tank.
Ball was convicted of aggravated robbery, aggravated robbery, theft from the elderly, concealing a weapon and tampering with evidence.
Ball was sentenced to 17 years in prison. That sentence is on top of a felony OVI charge.
Licking County prosecutor Brian Waltz said it was a particularly heinous crime because he targeted her because she is elderly and thought she was an easy target.
Ball also is a suspect in four other Newark break-ins in which elderly homeowners were targeted and threatened by an intruder.
Waltz said the investigation into the other home invasions continues.
BACKSTORY
Here's some information on the other Newark robberies.
The spree started Thursday, Nov. 13. There were two home invasions that day: One on Pierson Drive and the other on Meadowbrook Drive.
In one of those attacks, Myrtle Frazier said the suspect kicked down her door, stormed into her living room and ordered Frazier and her husband to the floor.
"He started yelling give me your money now. All your money. Now. Now. Now. I kind of wanted to smack him in the mouth," Frazier said.
Then the invasions started happening at a terrifying pace -- all to elderly residents.
The next one was at about 10:40 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22. The suspect kicked in the front door of another home on Meadowbrook Drive and ordered a sleeping elderly couple to the floor and stole property.
Two days later, on Wednesday, Nov. 24, the suspect forced entry into a home on the city’s South End on Ridgefield Road, and again the victims were elderly.
The second-to-last was an attempted robbery Tuesday, Nov. 25, on the city’s North End.
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