BELL COUNTY (September 12, 2009)—Bell County sheriff’s deputies were investigating Saturday after an elderly woman was attacked.

The assailant this time was a male family member, the sheriff’s office said Saturday, and the attack isn’t connected to recent home invasions that have targeted elderly women.

The assault was reported at about 10:15 p.m. Friday at a residence on State Highway 53, the Sheriff’s Office said Saturday morning.

The victim, whose name was not released, was taken to a local hospital.

Deputies were not able to talk to her Friday night, the sheriff’s office said, but they were told by a neighbor and another family member that she said a male family member had attacked her.

“Due to a previous home invasion of an elderly individual in this same area, this information is being released due to the concerns of citizens who live in the area,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release Saturday.

The sheriff’s office briefed residents Thursday night about the investigation into the string of home invasions they believe to be connected.

Authorities say last month an elderly woman was attacked in her home in far eastern Bell County.

Three weeks before that, a similar attack involving an elderly woman occurred in Leon County.

Last week, an elderly woman reported receiving a phone call in which the caller asked if she would be home alone that night. Not thinking, she said she would be.

She called her family afterward, and relatives came to get her. The next day she went home and received a phone call from a man who was laughing.

The next day, another woman in Leon County was the victim of a home invasion.

Authorities said they believe the robber is doing surveillance on the homes.

They said they believe he has been in the home before the crimes occurred without the victims' knowledge.

Authorities said they don't know if the crimes in Bell and Leon counties are related. The investigation is ongoing.

In all of the incidents, the elderly women lived alone.