Man Beaten; Son Arrested

Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 43-year-old Connecticut man in the beating of his 75-year-old father early Sunday morning, officials said.

Harrison Douglas Kline Jr. is being held at County Jail on suspicion of the attempted murder of his father, Harrison Douglas Kline Sr., Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Rivas said.

The older Kline is in critical condition at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center with severe head injuries.

When police arrived at 1 a.m. in the 340 block of Avenida Sevilla in Leisure World Laguna Hills, a gated community, they found the younger Kline with blood on his hands as well as traces of blood throughout the home, Rivas said.

“The son may have mistakenly hit the father with a telephone and hit him on the head,” Rivas said. “The suspect told us that someone had broken in before.”

The younger Kline also told police that he could not find his father when he arrived home late last night and upon hearing movement in the house he confronted who he thought was a prowler and beat him with his fists and a blunt object in the darkness.

He phoned authorities to report that someone had broken into the apartment and that he had left him beaten in the other room. He also reported that his father was missing.

Helena Ludwig, a neighbor, said the son had just arrived from Norwalk, Conn., for his mother’s funeral. She had died of cancer on Friday.

Bail has been set at $250,000, Rivas said.