A Whitmire woman is in jail for allegedly beating a man over the head with his crutches and taking his wallet.

Friday night, Whitmire police spotted Chrystal Joann Gambrell, 26, of 869 Duckett Ave., Whitmire, parked at an abandoned house with numerous no trespassing signs around it.

As officers were calling for a tow truck to tow Gambrell’s car, she walked up from the nearby woods.

Whitmire police gave her a ticket for trespassing, but Chief Jeremiah Sinclair says within five to 10 minutes, officers were called to a robbery where Gambrell was the suspect.

Sinclair says Gambrell went into a 70-year-old man’s Sims Street home and hit him over the head two to three times with his crutches. The crutches were the type worn around the arms for support.

Gambrell is accused of then taking the man’s wallet, which contained $900. The man told police he had just “cashed his check.”

A motorist later found the man’s wallet on Broome Street and returned it, but the wallet was empty of money.

Gambrell turned herself over to police Saturday afternoon, and after telling a different story, later admitted to the crime, said Sinclair.

Sinclair says drug use is the likely motive in the robbery.

The elderly man had 15 stitches to his head due to the blows.

Gambrell was arrested and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and armed robbery.