Man Sentenced in Beating of Mother, 79
A Panorama City man was sentenced to 60 days in jail and another 90 days in a lock-down rehabilitation center after he pleaded no contest Tuesday to beating his 79-year-old mother after she refused to give him money.
Van Nuys Superior Court Commissioner Mitchell Block ordered Harold Loftis, 61, to spend three months at the Foothill Rehabilitation Center for treatment of psychological problems as a condition of his three-year probation, prosecutor Del San Juan said.
Loftis pleaded no contest to one count of elder abuse.
On Jan. 16, Loftis came home after being out drinking and demanded money from his mother, Zella Taylor, San Juan said. When Taylor refused to give him any, Loftis beat her with his fists, stomped on her right foot and unplugged the telephone so she could not call for help, San Juan said.
The woman called police and paramedics after her son left the home they shared. She was admitted to Mission Hills Hospital for observation.
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