San Diego

An 80-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease was raped Monday afternoon in Clairemont, San Diego police said.

The woman, who lives within a block or two of where she was assaulted, was searching for aluminum cans near a trash bin in an alley of the 5100 block of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard when she was approached by two men in their 20s, Sgt. Alicia Lampert said. The assault occurred between 4 and 5:30 p.m.

One of the men brandished a handgun, and the pair then took the woman to an apartment within walking distance, Lampert said. There she was raped by one of the men, Lampert said.

Afterward, the woman told a passer-by on the street what had happened to her, and he notified police, the sergeant said.

The woman was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released.

The woman was unable to point out the apartment to police, Lampert said, but “it appears she gives a good account of what occurred, and it remains to be seen if she can be more detailed about every aspect of the incident.”