Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department Chief David Steffen is pictured at police headquarters on Saturday.
A road sign near the home of three Mennonite women assaulted Friday is shown.
An intruder with a "rage" against the Mennonite religion invaded a rural Clay Township home and assaulted and tied up three elderly women on Friday, police said.
The women, all between 84 and 90 years old, remained hospitalized Saturday after the incident in the 300 block of Indiantown Road.
Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Chief David Steffen said at 9:30 p.m. Saturday that police had a "subject in custody."
No further information about the suspect was available late Saturday night.
Police were alerted at 4:23 p.m. on Friday after an adult relative found three women bound in the home, Steffen said.
The women had suffered multiple electrical shocks from an incapacitation device and were bruised from being punched, he said. The three, identified as sisters by relatives, were transported to Ephrata Community Hospital for treatment of injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
The intruder had ransacked the home and used household chemicals described as cleaning products to cover floors, furniture and other surfaces in the home, police said.
A county hazardous materials team provided a risk assessment of the chemicals and did not identify any that threatened responders in the house.
Preliminary investigation indicates that sometime between 9 and 10 a.m., a man went to the home and posed as an insurance salesman to get inside, police said.
An elderly woman opened the door for him and let him come inside.
The man spoke with her and another woman, who both live in the home, Steffen said.
After he found out that they were alone, he attacked them.
The intruder repeatedly shocked the women with an electronic incapacitation device commonly referred to as a "stun gun" or "cattle prod," police said. He also punched them.
The assailant then restrained both women, binding their hands and feet with tape, Steffen said. He also covered their faces.
The man ransacked the home, looking for cash and other valuables, police said. Police did not report if he stole anything.
The man also spoke with the women several times and indicated a "rage" toward members of the Mennonite faith, police said.
The man read various passages from the Bible and then vandalized the women's Bible.
During the attack, the third woman arrived at the home and the man attacked and restrained her in the same manner as the other two women, police said.
One of the women had electric shock marks on her face, Steffen said.
The assault could have caused serious medical problems for the women.
"They suffered multiple electrical shocks, were incapacitated and left," he said. "They were unable to move for a long period of time. That could have led to bad things like blood clots and positional asphyxia."
The assault lasted until the assailant left at about 12:30 p.m., police said. The women were bound and incapacitated for about four hours before being found.
"They are doing remarkably well considering their age," Steffen said.
A nephew of the women who lives across the street from them said Saturday afternoon that he believed one of the women was to be released by the end of the day. The other two were being held for tests, added the man, who asked not to be identified by name.
Earlier, police described the assailant as a white male, 30 to 40 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, and a medium build. He had brownish, short hair, a neat appearance and an unshaven face. He wore a blue suit and yellow tie with a dark printed pattern, police said.
He indicated he was a previous member of the Mennonite faith and has anger towards its members since leaving the faith.
Police contacted local Mennonite leaders to warn of potential targeting of members of the faith.
Police have not developed any evidence to suggest that the three women were targeted as individuals, Steffen said. Police believe they were targeted because of their faith.
"There is no direct information that linked these individuals to targeting by the suspect," he said. "The only thing that linked them was his bias based upon their faith."
Steffen said his department will contact the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission on Monday regarding the assault.
"This is a hate crime," he said. "It is a bias-based crime. It will qualify for (penalty) enhancement provisions."
The attack took part in the sisters' brick ranch-style house, which sits on a ridge overlooking wide-spreading fields to the north and south.
Houses, barns and silos dot the ridge.
Indiantown Mennonite Church is nearby. The women, who grew up in the area, which was once farmed by their parents, did not attend that church, according to family members who live in neighboring homes.
Relatives were reluctant to talk about the crime.
A man who identified himself only as the women's brother said he was mystified by the assault.
"No, no," he said, "I have no idea" what sparked it. "They didn't know him. They didn't have much resistance. They couldn't fight him off."
Society is growing more violent and no one can predict where outbreaks will happen, said the nephew, who mentioned the school mass murder in Connecticut.
Steffen also noted a similarity between the Clay Township assault and the tragedy in Connecticut.
"Yesterday was the day for assaulting the unprotected," he said. "In Connecticut, in excess of 20 children were killed. In our community, someone decides to assault and injure elderly people, the most defenseless among us."
"We will do everything we can to bring him to justice," Steffen said.
The man's vehicle was described as a blue Dodge Durango, with no known registration plate. He had an ornamental license plate on the front of the vehicle.
Northern Regional police ask anyone with further information to contact them at 733-0965 or nlcrpd.org.
Tipsters also may call Lancaster City/County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-322-1913 or anonymously text LANCS plus your message to 847411 (TIP411).
