By SHAWN McGRATH

Police allege a pair of Anderson brothers beat a 60-year-old terminally ill cancer patient with a golf club when they went to her Lapel home to steal pain medication late Thursday.

Timothy A. Parker, 18, and his brother, Christopher G. Parker, 20, went to the woman’s home in the 100 block of Erie Street at about 11 p.m. wearing ski masks, broke in and started looking for pain medications, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with the charges.

The Parkers looked for drugs throughout the home, and discovered the woman in her bathroom, according to the affidavit. The woman refused to give the two men drugs, and grabbed Timothy by his sweatshirt. He began punching her in the chest, but she was able to push him backward. Christopher Parker began beating the woman with the golf club after she pushed his brother.

The woman suffered two broken fingers, and possibly a broken knuckle. She also suffered several bruises and cuts, Lapel Police Chief Dennis Molina said. She was taken to an Anderson hospital, where she was treated and released, he said. She could not be reached for comment late Monday.

The Parkers stole roughly 150 prescription pills from the woman, including methadone, Soma and Xanax, according to the court documents. Molina said he didn’t immediately know the type of cancer the woman suffers from and it’s not specified in the court documents.

Molina said Christopher used Timothy’s name during the attack. That information, along with numerous tips, led to their arrests in different locations in Hamilton County Friday afternoon.

Madison County Magistrate Stephen Clase approved a prosecutor’s office request for an additional three days to file formal charges against Timothy Parker. According to court papers, he faces a possible charge of burglary while armed with a deadly weapon, a Class A felony punishable by up to 50 years in prison. Timothy Parker is being held in the Madison County Jail on $35,000 bond on suspicion of burglary resulting in bodily injury, a Class A felony; battery, a Class C felony; and theft, a Class D felony.

Along with the drugs, Molina said the brothers took about $180 during the burglary. He said the brothers went to the woman’s home because one of their friends told them she was ill and on several medications.

Molina said Christopher Parker picked up the golf club, believed to be a sand wedge, from the home’s back porch as the brothers were going into the residence.

He is being held without bond in the Hamilton County Jail for allegedly violating the terms of his probation for resisting law enforcement, possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance. It wasn’t immediately known when he will make a court appearance in Madison County.

Molina said the brothers are being investigated in connection with other break-ins.

“I think it’s terrible,” he said. “Apparently they have a drug problem and that’s how they’re getting their drugs, breaking into people’s homes.”