An elderly Miami man who thought he was selling mangoes to a woman instead became the victim of a brutal beating and robbery, police said Thursday.
Miami-Dade Police say 77-year-old Leland Stansell Jr. was at his home in the 8100 block of Southwest 52nd Avenue on Sunday when he was approached by a woman who wanted to buy some of his mangoes.
When Stansell entered his house to get a bucket for her to collect the fruit, the woman was joined by two men who punched Stansell repeatedly while trying to force their way inside, police said.
Stansell fought back but the three suspects were able to take his cell phone and flee the scene in a red van. Surveillance video captured the three suspects and their vehicle, police said.
The victim's son, Jim Stansell, said his father was hospitalized with a broken jaw which required surgery but he's now recuperating at home.
"Basically he had a broken jaw, broken in two places, they had to put in plates and screws to repair that," Jim Stansell said. "He got sucker-punched in the jaw."
The younger Stansell said his tough father fought back hard and was able to keep the robbers out of his home.
"He goes to the gym, he's active, he goes to sporting events, fishes, he's not a 77-year-old frail guy sitting at home," he said. "I'm very proud of my dad, I can't say I'm surprised but I'm kind of surprised, he did a lot."
He said his father, a well-known Miami attorney, has lived in the area practically his whole life and occasionally sells mangoes from his home.
The suspects were described as a white woman in her 20s who was wearing a white t-shirt and colored shorts, a white man in his 20s who was 5-foot-8 and 210 pounds, with short black hair and a muscular build who was wearing a red and blue shirt and jeans, and a white man in his 40s.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade CrimeStoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
