Pennsylvania woman attacked in sleep met suspect online

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A suburban woman who was bludgeoned in her sleep but survived had met her attacker online, state police said Tuesday.

The attacker, William Spengler, was arrested Monday at a bus stop in Knox County, Tennessee, police said.

A criminal complaint charging Spengler, of Harvard, Illinois, with attempted homicide, theft and other crimes wasn't publicly available Tuesday because he hadn't been extradited to Pennsylvania and arraigned. But troopers from the Beaver barracks on Tuesday revealed more information when contacted by The Associated Press.

The woman, whose name was withheld, lives in Independence Township, about 20 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. She met Spengler online, said Trooper Dan Kesten, though he wasn't immediately able to say how long ago that happened or what online site they used.

"They continued to correspond with each other over social media," Kesten said. "It turned out the holidays were approaching, and they decided he'd come to visit her."

After the couple argued, they went to bed, but Spengler then assaulted the woman and took her car, Kesten said. Police have said only that the woman was beaten in the head with a blunt object.

Spengler was in custody in Tennessee on Tuesday and couldn't be reached for comment. Online court records didn't list an attorney for him.

The woman was still hospitalized, Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier said, though he didn't know her condition.

"She's expected to survive," Lozier said. "We hope she's going to survive."

Spengler took the woman's car and drove to a bus stop in Indiana, Kesten said. Spengler took a bus to Tennessee, where authorities caught up with him Monday and arrested him on the Pennsylvania warrant.