An elderly South Bend woman was awoken to being choked, and the man allegedly responsible for that is now in custody.

54-year-old Richard Lowery was arrested this week on charges of strangulation and robbery causing bodily injury. He’s still in custody in St. Joseph County Jail as of Saturday afternoon.

ABC 57 is reporting the incident happened in the early morning hours of April 21 at an apartment in the Fairington Apartments of South Bend complex just south of the bypass.

The 84-year-old victim told police she woke up to Lowery’s hands around her neck and him demanding her wallet. Officers found no signs of forced entry, but the victim told police that two of her purses had been stolen about a week earlier. A neighbor identified Lowery, her son-in-law, as the man who possibly stole her purses.

Despite denying being involved, police say Lowery willingly provided DNA samples, which matched DNA found at the scene.