Man gets weekends in jail for beating 81-year-old neighbor

FROM STAFF REPORTS

VICTORVILLE • A man was sentenced to 120 weekend days in jail after for assaulting his girlfriend and beating an 81-year-old Lucerne Valley neighbor who tried to protect the woman and her children.

Martin Daniel Mata Jr., 39, accepted the prosecution’s offer and pleaded guilty to causing great bodily injury to an elderly person, according to court records. Judge Lynn Poncin sentenced him immediately after accepting the plea agreement on Wednesday.

On Dec. 21, the woman went to the 81-year-old man’s Lucerne Valley home with her two children to take refuge from Mata, who had allegedly been abusive.

Mata showed up at the residence and demanded the return of his girlfriend and the children, according to sheriff’s officials. When the man refused, Mata allegedly struck him several times in the face and rendered him unconscious.

Investigators found Mata hiding in a bedroom closet in an acquaintance’s home on Cody Road in Lucerne Valley. Mata allegedly roughed up the girlfriend while removing her from the neighbor’s house, sheriff’s officials said.

The woman and children showed up later at the Lucerne Valley sheriff’s substation and were all right.

The 81-year-old man was treated at the scene for injuries to his face but refused to be transported to a hospital.