LAKE STATION | A 38-year-old Lake Station woman's half-baked plot to get free party size pizzas led to a brutal attack on a delivery driver, Police Chief Mike Stills said.

"She later commended her son and boyfriend for their part in the attack, and then they ate the pizzas," Stills said.

On Tuesday, police arrested Tammy Hawkins; her boyfriend, Joseph Zeld, 30; and her son, Keith Hawkins, 18, all of the 4500 block of Cosner Street.

All three were arrested on probable cause robbery, with formal charges expected to be filed either today or Thursday through Lake County Superior Court, he said.

"We'll push for a higher felony because of the driver's serious injuries. I can't imagine anyone doing that for pizza," Stills said.

The driver, Samantha Wilson-Sayre, 21, of Portage, was airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., where she underwent surgery on her head and hand, he said.

Wilson-Sayre, who was expected to be released from the hospital late Tuesday, had a metal plate inserted in her head and four metal pins placed in her hand.

Stills said Keith Hawkins told police that his mother, Tammy Hawkins, devised a plan Saturday night to have her boyfriend call J & J's Pizza Shack on Central Avenue in order to get free pizzas.

She allegedly instructed Zeld to call the pizza business, order three party size pizzas and give the name Frank, Stills said.

Hawkins also told Zeld to give the address of an unoccupied house for sale in the 4300 block of Cosner Street.

She reportedly told Zeld and Keith Hawkins to go to the house and wait in hiding until the pizzas, valued at about $100, were delivered, Stills said.

After arriving at the unoccupied residence, Wilson-Sayre was instructed by Zeld to go to the back of the house in order to receive payment, he said.

Keith Hawkins told police that it was then that Zeld struck Wilson-Sayre over the head with a metal club, Stills said.

Zeld apparently was starting to hit her a second time when Wilson-Sayre blocked the second blow with her hand.

"The doctor told us that if she would have been struck twice in the head she would have died," Stills said.

He said the victim fled the area in her car, then drove back to the pizza business where she explained what had happened.

A relative then drove her to St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart, he said. She later was airlifted to Loyola.

The victim, once conscious and starting to recover, helped put together a sketch of the suspects, which led police to issue warrants and make the three arrests, Stills said.

A manager at J & J's Pizza Shack said the restaurant is in the process of opening a benefit account for Wilson-Sayre through Centier Bank.

In addition, J & J's restaurants throughout the area as well as several Lake Station businesses are setting out collection canisters to help defray the medical costs for Wilson-Sayre, who had been employed at the pizzeria for the past 18 months.