Man Wanted in Brutal Beating of Mother Daughter with Hammer

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Photo credit LAPD

GLENDALE (CNS) - A woman and her mother were critically injured in an early morning attack in a Glendale apartment today, and police were searching for the younger woman's fiance who is suspected in the assault.

The attack was reported around 4:15 a.m. inside an apartment in the 600 block of West Wilson Avenue, police said.

Responding officers found a woman in her 20s suffering injuries believed to have been inflicted by a blunt object. At least one report from the scene suggested she was attacked with a hammer, but police did not immediately confirm that's what was used in the assault.

It was a violent attack. That’s how @PoliceGlendale describe what happened to a mother and daughter when they were assaulted in their apartment unit. The suspect is the daughters ex #fiance. Details @ABC7 at 3. pic.twitter.com/OScPl3OJyL

— Sid Garcia (@abc7sid) July 19, 2019

The woman's mother tried to intervene and was also attacked, police said.

The woman's fiance -- 28-year-old Brian Cruz -- is the suspected attacker, Glendale police Detective Sgt. Ernesto Gaxiola said.

Cruz -- described as Hispanic, 5 feet 11 inches tall and about 200 pounds -- allegedly fled the scene in a black GMC Denali Sierra pickup truck with black and yellow California license plates, number BCG1129, police said.

The younger woman's injuries, described by Gaxiola as "very significant," were more serious than her mother's, but both women were expected to survive, the sergeant said.

"The toughness of these victims ... I can't say it enough how incredible it is that they were able to give us information," Gaxiola said. "Hopefully we'll find justice for this."