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.
‘Senseless act of brutality’
“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.