At 4:35 p.m. yesterday, Fujie Hasegawa regained consciousness at Queen's Hospital and acknowledged family members with facial and hand gestures.

"It's a good sign," Robert Hasegawa said. "We thought we had lost her because of the severity of the injuries.

"She's unable to communicate verbally, but hopefully she'll be conscious enough at some point to talk and let us know what happened."

Hasegawa said his mother, who is in fair condition, has a slight fracture behind her left ear and another fracture under an eye.

She has lived alone for more than 25 years in a ninth-floor apartment at Kalanihuia, a 150-unit Hawaii Housing Authority project for seniors at Aala and N. Beretania streets.

Her son speculates that she was beaten and robbed after 6 p.m. Sunday and before 11 a.m. Monday.

The beating has sent shock waves through Kalanihuia.

"This is not the first incident but it's the worst," said Robert DeSoto, whose 70-year-old father lives at Kalanihuia. "I'm not surprised at all that this happened.

"Look in the parking lot and you'll see drug deals and prostitutes working," he added. "Last December, people came over the (6-foot chain-link) fence, knocked on a door and said they were maintenance, and robbed an elderly man. They passed everything over the fence."

The 15-story building, across the street from Aala Park, is supposed to be secured but it's not difficult for anyone to get in.

Elsie Johnson, who has lived in the building for 18 years, points to a side entrance, where an automated sliding door remains open for 33 seconds.

The timing is designed for slower-moving elderly residents but frequently allows outsiders to enter the building, too.

"We're not safe here and I'm afraid," Johnson said. "We've been telling the Hawaii Housing people that we need 24-hour security guards."

A 6-foot chain-link fence that surrounds the makai side of the building is easily scaled.

The front door of the building does not shut by itself after someone enters. A sign reminds residents to check the door but many don't.

"Something is happening here all the time because you can't keep people out," Frances Torres said.

Robert Hasegawa, who had spoken to his mother on the telephone at 6 p.m. Sunday, planned to visit her Monday to pick up konbu (seaweed) she had prepared.

He called her three times on Monday - at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. - and became worried when she didn't answer her telephone.

At first, Hasegawa thought his mother had gone out with one of his sisters. After the second call, however, he became worried and checked with his sisters.

When his mother didn't answer the third time, he said, "I knew definitely something was wrong."

He and his wife went to Kalanihuia and asked an employee to let them into her unit.

"As soon as he opened the door, I saw my mother sprawled out near the entrance with her head against the wall," he said. "She was breathing but all banged up.

"What I saw was the brutality of the attack. Her eye was black as if someone had struck her there and her face was swollen. She was bleeding from the nostrils and there was blood in one ear."

The apartment had been ransacked, he added.

More than $100 in cash was stolen, police Detective Thomas Jones said.

"No matter how much money was taken," Jones said, "it's not worth hitting or punching a 92-year-old female."

She used the cash as gifts for her grandchildren, her son said.

"My mother is 4 feet 10 if you stretch her and weighs 110 pounds," Hasegawa said. "She's a friendly person who would open the door if someone knocks. She wouldn't hurt anyone.

"I know damn well she didn't get hurt by falling down," he added, "To see her severely injured like this breaks me up."