Millbrae Man Charged in Vicious Attack on Elderly Parents Pleads Not Guilty

A Millbrae man charged with an unprovoked attack on his elderly parents earlier this year pleaded not guilty at his preliminary hearing on Friday.

Thomas Louis Trapani, 60, is charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with enhancements for attacking a person over 70.

Trapani's 83-year-old mother was baking pie in the kitchen when he grabbed her head and pounded it into a wall, prosecutors said. Trapani then threw her to the ground and continued beating her.

Trapani's 87-year-old father, responding to the sounds of his wife's screams from a garage, found his son beating his mother, prosecutors said. When he tried to pull his son off of her,  Trapani turned on him, punching him in the face and then chasing him with a kitchen knife.

His father knocked the knife out of his son's hands, but Trapani continued beating him, prosecutors said. When his mother returned from a neighbor's home to call authorities, she found Trapani continuing to beat his father while he was lying on his back.

Trapani then struck his mother repeatedly after she tried to pull her son away from his father.

Sheriff's deputies responding to the March 22 incident found a knife on the ground and arrested Trapani.

Trapani's mother was hospitalized overnight with lacerations, bruises and black eyes. The lacerations did not heal for weeks, causing intermittent bleeding.

Trapani's father suffered cuts and bruises and had back spasms that lasted for weeks.

Trapani is in custody on $100,000 bail. His trial is set for July 16.

He's due in court on June 26 for a pretrial conference.

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