Man pleads guilty to kidnapping, assaulting elderly couple

GEORGETOWN, Del. (AP) — A Delaware man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and assaulting an elderly couple. He faces at least 17 years in prison.

Steven Snell entered his guilty plea Friday to several charges, including home invasion and robbery. He’s scheduled for sentencing Oct. 11.

Investigators say Snell entered the couple’s Rehoboth Beach home in July 2018 and asked to use the phone and get some water. He then assaulted the 82-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife. He tied up the man, forced him into the trunk of his car and drove to an ATM, where he forced the woman to withdraw money before fleeing with her husband still in the trunk. He later abandoned the car near the bank. The husband survived.

Snell had been released from prison two days earlier after pleading guilty to felony theft.