Dennis Paul Michael, 29, of 100 W. Ridge Ave., Apartment 21, Sharpsville, and John R. Wilcox, 29, of 459 Ohio St., Sharon, were both charged with robbery, theft, and aggravated assault after they allegedly robbed and beat Paul Pesek of Valley Road, Jefferson Township, after 3:30 a.m. Oct. 27, police said.

Pesek, 53, called the attack "very unexpected. That's the reason why I opened the door at three o'clock in the morning," he said, adding that he never had problems with his nephew prior to the attack.

He said that after he let the men into his home that Michael, his nephew, looked into Pesek's refrigerator. "I asked him what he was doing and the next thing I know, I got cold-cocked on the side of the head."

Pesek told police that Michael and Wilcox started pounding him with their fists until he was unconscious. "When I woke up, my hands were wrapped up in duct tape," he said, adding that he regained consciousness in his bed, then walked into the kitchen and slowly worked the tape off his hands which were behind his back.

"I called a friend who lives two or three miles down the road because I live by myself," Pesek said. He was taken to the emergency room of UPMC Horizon, Farrell, where he was treated for injuries which included a broken nose, an injured left eye, and numerous cuts and bruises.

"I still have blurred vision. My nose has been busted from this and I have a hard time breathing, but I'll make it," he said.

Pesek said he wasn't sure why the men attacked him although he said they stole many items from him, including a .22- caliber Remington pump rifle valued at about $550, hand tools, a circular saw blade, small crowbars and money.

He said he and Michael had a decent relationship up to this point, but that he had only met Wilcox one other time with his nephew.

"I hope they put them away. If it wouldn't have been me with a hard head, it would've been an older person," Pesek said. "I still don't understand it. When relatives come at 3 o'- clock in the morning, you open the door because you think something is wrong."

Michael, who has been charged in the past with drunken driving and assault, was free on $25,000 unsecured bond. Wilcox was in Mercer County Jail Friday evening because of a parole violation and a drunken driving conviction, a jail spokesperson said, adding that Wilcox had been sentenced to 1 to 23 months in jail for the DUI.

No date has been set for the preliminary hearing.