PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- An 18-year-old man is behind bars after attacking his mother and grandfather over a fight about chores.
State police said Joseph Cimilluca punched his mother in the face after she asked for some help cleaning their house on White Oak Drive in Plymouth Township. Then, things got even worse.
According to court papers, Cimilluca beat his mother with a tire iron and a fire poker, said he was going to kill her, and ran into the woods when she called police.
A neighbor didn’t want to be identified but said she was shocked to hear the news.
"I have a 15-year-old and you don't hear about things like that happening usually,” The neighbor said.
Troopers said Cimilluca came back to his house after that first attack and knocked his mother unconscious. When she woke up, troopers said she saw her son beating her father with an iron fire poker.
“They're lucky to be alive probably because that could be a very deadly weapon,” The neighbor said.
State police used tracking dogs to search for Cimilluca after he ran into the woods a second time. He was found and charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats, among other things.
His mother and grandfather were both taken to the hospital after the attack.
State troopers said Cimilluca beat his mother so badly, she needed a neck brace. She couldn’t turn her head or sit up straight.
“(I hope) he gets some help because obviously there's an issue if you react in that kind of violence,” the neighbor said.
Cimilluca is locked up in Luzerne County Jail on $25,000 for the aggravated assault charges and another $5,000 for the simple assault charge.