An elderly woman was physically and sexually assaulted on Sunday night before being tied up and left by a vicious robber who broke into her home.

Detectives were last night continuing to investigate the horrifying incident which left the old woman and two other people in the house shocked and frightened.

A 32-year-old Warwick man was detained at Hamilton Police Station where he was helping detectives with their inquiries.

The robber broke into the rear of the house on Happy Valley Road, Pembroke, at about 10.45 p.m. on Sunday.

He grabbed the woman and two other occupants and detained them in a bedroom before threatening them and demanding money.

He then allegedly sexually and physically assaulted the elderly woman.

The robber tied all three people up on the bed before fleeing with an amount of cash in the woman's car.

A Police spokesman said yesterday that the woman managed to inform a relative who, in turn, alerted Police.

Minutes later officers responding to the call noticed a vehicle leaving the area and attempted to stop the driver, who instead led them on chase.

Police activated their emergency equipment and, after making several dangerous manoeuvres, the suspect finally came to a halt after crashing his vehicle into a parked car on Derwent Lane North.

The chase continued on foot and the suspect was eventually apprehended while hiding in a hedge on nearby Roberts Avenue.

The Police spokesman described this type of incident as rare in Bermuda and said it was being treated extremely seriously.

He added: "This was a very serious incident. I imagine it was very frightening for the occupants.

"We are still investigating right now and are not releasing certain details about what happened.

"But what we can say is that it was great work by the officers who apprehended the suspect.''