Man Pleads Not Guilty in Assault on Parents

A 40-year-old unemployed plumber was arraigned Tuesday in Ventura County Municipal Court for attacking his elderly parents with a machete at the family’s Simi Valley home.

Michael Dasher pleaded not guilty to charges of assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment and elder abuse.

For more than an hour early Sunday morning, Dasher allegedly held his parents hostage while wielding a machete and ranting about religion.

At one point he allegedly forced the couple to kneel, saying, “Pray for your sins at the altar of death.”

Dasher’s 68-year-old father, James Dasher, said during a telephone interview that although he and his wife were only slightly injured in the incident, they are still frightened by the bizarre assault.

“I can tell you, we are having a little trouble sleeping at night,” James Dasher said. “You never know what’s going to happen with the California legal system.”

Dasher is being held in the Ventura County Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled July 29.

According to his father, Dasher does not have a history of violence or mental illness, but has had trouble with drug use.

No bail was set because Dasher also was charged with violating the terms of his probation on a conviction for selling marijuana, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Bamieh.

His public defender may request a bail hearing before the preliminary hearing, but that has not been determined, said Doug Dailey, who represented Dasher at Tuesday’s arraignment.