LAKE STATION | Samantha Wilson-Sayre is on the mend but won't return to her job at J & J's Pizza Shack for at least another six weeks, manager Kim Slomczewski said.

The 21-year-old Portage resident was brutally attacked while working as a pizza delivery driver Aug. 30 in what police say was a premeditated plot by three Lake Station residents to get three free party-size pizzas.

To go back to work, Wilson-Sayre needs to get clearance from her physician regarding her two surgeries, which included inserting a metal plate in her head and pins in her hand, Slomczewski said.

She said the attack is still very much on the young woman's mind.

"She's calmed down a little bit since the incident but still gets teary eyed talking about it," Slomczewski said.

Since the beating, those who work at the restaurant are definitely more conscientious when making deliveries, she said.

"We call back to verify, and, if we can't verify a caller, we don't deliver," she said.

She called the attack a freak incident that's the only one of its kind in the restaurant's history.

"This place has been in business for 25 years, and nothing like this has ever happened," she said.

She said the restaurant is helping Wilson-Sayre with her numerous medical bills and also set up a fund for her through Centier Bank.

Donation canisters also have been placed at several businesses in Lake Station, Hobart and Portage.

"Any money donated will help her, whether it's for medical or personal bills," she said.

The three Lake Station residents charged last week with robbery and aggravated battery were Keith Orman Hawkins, 18; his mother, Tammy Lynn Hawkins, 38; and her boyfriend, Joseph John Forbes Zeld, 30.

Wilson-Sayre told police she was delivering three party-size pepperoni pizzas to 4301 Cosner St. when one of two men struck her on the head with an object.

She said when she grabbed her head, the same man struck her a second time on her hand.

She then ran back to her vehicle and fled the scene and was initially taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart and later Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.

Zeld and Keith Hawkins each told police the other was responsible for hitting Wilson-Sayre on the head with a Club, a metal device used to lock a steering wheel.

Keith Hawkins told police it was his mother, Tammy Hawkins, who was the mastermind behind the attack to get free pizza.