Couple attacked at home with hammer

A man and a woman were attacked and injured early Thursday by an intruder who struck each on the head with a hammer after breaking into their Ladera Heights home, authorities said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said the man, 35, was attacked about 1:30 a.m. as he sat working at his computer in his home in the 5000 block of Shenandoah Avenue, and the woman, 29, was attacked in bed.

She was taken to a hospital for her injuries and released, and the man refused treatment, said Sgt. George Ducoulombier of the Sheriff’s Department’s Marina del Rey station.

The couple, who were not identified by police, told authorities that the attacker wore a hooded sweat shirt.

Authorities earlier had reported that both victims were sleeping at the time of the attack and initially had called the woman’s injuries serious.

Sheriff’s investigators didn’t know the motive for the attack and said nothing was taken from the home.

The intruder fled, and a hammer, believed to be the weapon used, was found in the driveway of a nearby home, Ducoulombier said.

andrew.blankstein@ latimes.com