Man wanted in beating of 76-year-old woman surrenders

A man surrendered to Richmond police after they named him as a person of interest in the beating and robbery of a 76-year-old woman in a grocery store parking lot.

Lynell Alexander Jr., 22, turned himself in at police headquarters Monday, department spokeswoman Karla E. Peters said today.

Alexander was being held on outstanding warrants charging him with driving on a suspended license and felony eluding, but he has not been charged with last week's beating and robbery, Peters said. The investigation of that matter, she said, is continuing.

The victim of Thursday's 3:10 p.m. attack outside The Market at Tobacco Row was treated at VCU Medical Center for a head laceration.

Police said the 3:10 p.m. attack occurred in the front parking lot of the store on East Main Street in Shockoe Bottom as the woman was carrying groceries to her car.

According to police, a man approached the victim and demanded her purse, and when she resisted, she was struck on the head with a hard object.

The man ran to a car and drove from the scene. Witnesses provided a description of the man and the vehicle, and the car and the victim's purse were recovered later in the day.

-- Joe Macenka