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Pa. assailant attacks 4 elderly women with hammer

The Associated Press

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A 41-year-old man stormed a beauty salon and bludgeoned four grandmothers with a hammer, fracturing one’s skull, before making off with less than $90, police said.

Thomas Leyshon III, of Mountain Top, was arrested after a daylong manhunt Friday.

The women, aged 56 to 76, did not resist but were beaten anyway, witnesses said. At least one required surgery.

''It takes a coward to go after some old women,’' said Andy Chopka, grandson of victim Jeanna Chopka.

Authorities allege Leyshon attacked a co-owner of Hairem Family Hair and Nail Care while demanding money from the register and the women’s purses.

''This is a completely senseless act of brutality against women who were doing nothing more than spending a day at the beauty parlor,’' prosecutor David Lupas said. ''These are ... the most vulnerable of victims.’'

Leyshon was being held Saturday on $100,000 bail. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

The victims were treated at hospitals for head and facial injuries.