Woman, 71, Is Sexually Assaulted and Her Husband Attacked in Brooklyn Home Invasion

NEW YORK — A 71-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and her husband, a retired police lieutenant, was attacked with a blade during a brutal home invasion in Brooklyn on Monday, the police said.

The intruders remained at large Monday evening and their motive was unknown, police said.

Police were called about the attack, on Madison Place, near Marine Park, around 5:30 a.m., said Sgt. Jessica McRorie, a spokeswoman for the New York Police Department.

Three men broke into the home and attacked the couple, she said.

The woman was tied up and assaulted. The man, 72, who is retired from the Police Department, was injured after being struck in the head with a box cutter, police said.

The intruders stole a Honda Civic and fled the scene, the authorities said. The retired lieutenant’s firearm was also missing, the police said, and officers were investigating whether it was stolen as well.

The couple, who have not been identified, were treated at a hospital. The woman was recovering at the hospital Monday night, authorities said.

The area around the couple’s house was taped off Monday evening, and police officers were going in and out of the house.

“This is crazy,” said Lidia Bessmertnov, 48, who had to step under police tape while walking with her daughter on the tree-lined block of houses where the attack occurred.

The neighborhood, where Bessmertnov has lived since 1993, is usually quiet, she said. She said it was “devastating” to know that such an attack had happened so close to where she lives with her children, and where they go to and from school.

“This is really, really scary,” she said.