A 70-year-old Littlerock man saved his older and disabled roommates from an attack by hitting the assailant on the head with the butt of a rifle, authorities said Monday.
The attack in the 16700 block of Pearblossom Highway happened about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, said Lt. Ken Wright of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Palmdale Station.
Thirty-six-year-old John Tutson allegedly forced his way into the victims’ home “yelling, cursing and challenging the residents to fight,” Wright said.
Tutson pulled a 55-year-old wheelchair-bound woman by the hair and threw her onto the floor when she ordered him to leave, the lieutenant said. He then punched an 80-year-old man who lives at the location and placed him in a chokehold.
“It was at that point the 70-year-old roommate intervened by striking the suspect on the head with the butt of a rifle,” Wright said.
Palmdale sheriff’s deputies learned Tutson was an acquaintance of the victims who had come to the house earlier in the day to borrow tools to work on his vehicle, the lieutenant said.
Tutson was transported to a hospital for treatment, Wright said. He will be booked at the sheriff’s Palmdale Station when he is released from the hospital.
—City News Service