The Knucklehead of the Day award

The couple, in their 60s, have homes in Sarasota and Brooklyn, N.Y., and were attacked at least four times at their homes and other places, according to federal court records. One time the attacker used a hammer. Both of them suffered skull fractures and other injuries.

Federal authorities have arrested and charged a man they identify as Edmon Vardanyan, 23, with traveling in interstate commerce with the intent to kill, injure or harass, according to a federal complaint. He was booked Tuesday at Orient Road Jail, his address listed as 4202 Bismarck Palm Drive, Tampa.

Vardanyan told investigators he was hired to kill the pair because they refused to pay a debt, the complaint states. He told investigators he was paid between $800 and $1,000 and had been offered $10,000 each to kill the couple.

The first encounter happened Sept. 24, 2006, when a man showed up at the Komissarchuks’ Brooklyn home with an envelope marked “TLC,” the complaint states.

The deliveryman asked to come inside for water, but Grigori Komissarchuk refused. The man “positioned himself as if preparing to strike” Komissarchuk, who summoned his neighbor. The delivery man then quickly walked away, the complaint states.

Komissarchuk later identified the deliveryman as Vardanyan.

The next day, Grigori Komissarchuk was beaten unconcious while returning to his car in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Brooklyn, the complaint states.

Komissarchuk required surgery for internal injuries, according to the complaint, had facial fractures and was in the hospital for two weeks.

On Dec. 6, 2006, the Komissarchuks were in their Sarasota home when, as they returned from a family dinner, an assailant with a hammer ducked under the closing garage door.

He attacked Galina Komissarchuk, and as her husband attempted to shield her, the attacker beat them both, the complaint states.

Grigori Komissarchuk then cornered the man in the Jacuzzi room, and the attacker hit him on the head with the hammer before running away, the complaint states.

Grigori Komissarchuk suffered a skull fracture, cuts on his head and arm bruises, the complaint states. Galina Komissarchuk suffered two cuts on her head and bruises on her arms and face.

Galina Komissarchuk later identified the assailant as Vardanyan.

In Brooklyn on April 30, 2007, a man hit Galina Komissarchuk on the head, fracturing her skull. Grigori Komissarchuk and a neighbor chased the attacker down the street before losing him, the complaint states.

New York police later arrested Vardanyan, who was in a van with a Sarasota County license plate. He was released, the complaint states.

Vardanyan was arrested again, the complaint states. In interviews with investigators, he said he followed the couple to their Sarasota home and watched them. He said he was in their neighborhood at the time of the attack. He said he had a hammer in his van, but denied being involved in the attack, the complaint states.

Vardanyan also told investigators he was with another individual April 30 and watched Galina Komissarchuk return home. He said he approached her and pushed her to the ground, but denied hitting her in the head, the complaint states.

He told investigators he wasn’t paid for that attack because “he didn’t do the job correctly,” the complaint states.