Stranger at the door: Opephelia Lutz speaks out - 19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|News, Weather, Sports

Stranger at the door: elderly woman speaks out

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CLEVELAND, OH -

A local great-grandmother is speaking out about the dangers of opening the door to strangers.

Last summer, 86-year-old Opephelia Lutz heard a knock at the door. A man wanted to cut her grass. She opened the door a crack to get a business card, and he attacked.

Cuyahoga county prosecutors just convicted Luis Galarza. 

A prosecutor's elder abuse unit helped send him away for 9 years. A career criminal, he'd been out of prison for just one day.

Lutz had a personal emergency alert button, and she used that to call for help. Cleveland police later tracked down Galarza using information on that business card.

Lutz told 19 Action News, "He wasn't even inside.  He started punching me in the face.  Don't open the door. I should have had him put the card in the mailbox and shut the door."

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