Report: Victim Beaten With Metal Pipe

BROOKSVILLE - A metal pipe was the weapon used to beat a Brooksville woman into a coma and send her to a Tampa hospital in "extremely critical" condition.

These were among the details found in arrest affidavits released Monday that narrate the brutal attack and show what directed investigators to the suspects, Gary Abbate and Gary Sharp Jr.

The two hatched a plan on Friday to rob the victim, whom they knew, in her house on Moon Road and steal her Social Security check, investigators say.

When the victim came home from work about 3 p.m., Abbate cornered her in the kitchen while Sharp rummaged through her purse, affidavits show.

But their plan backfired because the victim didn't have a check and Abbate went into a rage. Sharp supplied him with a metal pipe and Abbate used it to hit the victim at least four times about the face and head, according to investigators.

The victim was left on the floor unconscious, while her attackers stole her Mitsubishi Lancer and fled from 13322 Moon Road, an affidavit shows. She was found by a neighbor and coherent enough to name one attacker before she was flown to Tampa's St. Joseph Hospital.

Her injuries suggest a badly broken face and multiple fractures to the arms, fingers and skull. She was listed in fair condition Monday.

Meanwhile, investigators were hunting for the suspects and the stolen Lancer. The latter was found Saturday night bogged down in a sandy pit north of Whitehurst Pond off State Road 50.

The suspect named by the victim, Abbate, was tracked down through a controlled phone call placed by one of his friends. Abbate gave up his location during the phone call and admitted he was "in a lot of trouble" and that the victim "had her head smashed in", an affidavit states.

With Abbate in custody, investigators next turned their attention to Sharp. The sheriff's office said family members convinced him to surrender on Sunday.

Both Abbate, 26, of 14434 Missouri Skylark Road, and Sharp, 29, of 11350 Sunshine Grove Road, are charged with attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, armed robbery and grand theft auto.