Preliminary hearings for a Sharpsville man accused of beating and robbing his uncle and a Sharon man police say helped him were continued Monday until February.

The continuance was granted at the request of the defense, according to District Justice Ruth M. French, Mercer.

Dennis Paul Michael, 29, of 100 W. Ridge Ave., Apartment 21, Sharpsville, and John R. Wilcox, 29, of 459 Ohio St., Sharon, are both charged with robbery, theft and aggravated assault for allegedly robbing and beating Paul Pesek of Valley Road, Jefferson Township.

The two men knocked on Pesak's door about 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 27 and, when he let them in, they beat him, stole rifles, tools and money and left Pesak tied up with duct tape, police said. Pesek said he let Michael and Wilcox in at the early hour because Michael is his nephew and he thought something was wrong. Pesek said he never had problems with his nephew before the incident.

Michael, who has been charged in the past with drunken driving and assault, is free on a $25,000 unsecured bond. Wilcox was in Mercer County Jail Monday afternoon, according to a jail spokesperson. Wilcox is in jail for a parole violation and serving a 1 to 23 month drunken driving sentence, a jail source said earlier.

No date was set for the February hearing.