Police search for twins in Blackstone assault

BLACKSTONE -- Town police with assistance from the Nottoway County Sheriff's Department and Virginia State Police are looking for twin brothers in connection with an assault that was followed by shots being fired into a vehicle and two residences, Blackstone Chief Nicholas C. Kuzmiak said today.

Police have warrants for Lionel Leo Hardy and Lionell Lee Hardy, 23, charging them with malicious wounding and possession of a firearm by a felon.

A search for the two Sunday night included a State Police helicopter, canine and tactical units, Kuzmiak said.

Kuzmiak said the trouble started last Tuesday when a man was assaulted and beaten with a pistol. Later that evening authorities discovered a nearby car had been struck by bullets.

On Friday night and early Saturday, there were reports of shots being fired into two occupied residences -- one was the home of relatives of the original beating victim, and the other was home to relatives of the suspects, Kuzmiak said. There were no injuries.

Police stepped up their patrol Sunday night after officers on patrol spotted a suspicious vehicle that then accelerated for a few blocks before stopping in a driveway and discharging a passenger believed to be one of the suspects, who fled on foot.

The Hardys have not been charged in the shootings, but Kuzmiak said the investigation was continuing.

A sister, Lori Lea Hardy, 30, suspected of driving the Hardys to the original assault, was arrested at her home and also charged with malicious wounding and possession of a firearm by a felon, Kuzmiak said.

-- Tom Kapsidelis