An 18-year-old District man has pleaded guilty to attacking an 81-year-old woman during a burglary at her Northwest Washington home.

Tyran Mcelrath pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court Monday to one count of first-degree burglary and one count of aggravated assault, U.S. Attorney Ron Machen announced.

Mcelrath admitted that he went to the woman's home on the 3500 block of McKinley Street NW on Nov. 7 in order to steal property.

He broke into the residence through window, took tools from the basement, rifled through cabinets on the main floor and took change from the woman's purse. He then carried an Apple computer out of the home and hid it in bushes at the base of the home's front porch steps, prosecutors said.

The woman then walked to the door and asked Mcelrath to leave. In response, Mcelrath repeatedly punched her in the face until she lost consciousness and fled. When police later found the woman, she was disoriented and had multiple bruises and broken teeth, prosecutors said.

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GPS records tied Mcelrath to the scene of the crime, and surveillance video showed the assailant traveling to and from the crime scene.

Mcelrath is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7. Sentencing guidelines suggest that he receive up to eight years in prison for burglary charge and up to 5 ? years in prison for the assault charge, according to prosecutors.

njagoda@washingtonexaminer.com