Overview
- Police say 27‑year‑old Neil O'Flaherty broke into an 87‑year‑old couple's Falmouth home on May 25 by climbing through a bedroom window and assaulting the woman.
- Authorities allege the intruder grabbed the woman by the neck and shoulders, dragged her into the living room, tried to kiss her and covered her face with a blanket restricting her breathing.
- Officers conducted an overnight search with K9 and drone units that night but did not find a suspect, and the victim's husband — who is 87, blind and uses a walker — scared the intruder off.
- After a June 1 break‑in in Mashpee led to O'Flaherty's identification and an initial arraignment and release, detectives later linked him to the Falmouth case and took him back into custody.
- Prosecutors have charged O'Flaherty with aggravated burglary, kidnapping, assault with intent to murder, assault and battery on an older person, and nighttime breaking and entering, and he was arraigned and sent to Bridgewater State Hospital pending a dangerousness hearing while investigations continue.