La Grange, CA – A standoff in La Grange involving an alleged brutal attack ended when a SWAT team arrested the suspect who refused to leave the victim’s home.
A call from an 81-year-old Confidential Victim (CV) just before 2:00 this morning to the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s dispatch reported being attacked in her home while she was sleeping by 44-year-old Cinthia Lana Beglinger, of La Grange, who remained on the property. Deputies found the victim with visible injuries consistent with skin tearing and lacerations to the hands, face, and head, including her left ear being partially torn off, according to sheriff’s officials. An ambulance was called to treat and take the victim to the hospital while deputies secured the scene.
Sheriff’s officials say Beglinger began making threats to shoot deputies and started covering the trailer windows when she was told she would be arrested. The sheriff’s SWAT team and a crisis negotiator were called to work toward a “peaceful resolution,”” but Beglinger refused their attempts for several hours. The SWAT team then deployed chemical agents and entered the home. According to detectives, Beglinger was found in the rear of the trailer and fought deputies as they tried to handcuff her.
A deputy was injured in the skirmish but did not require medical treatment. Sheriff’s officials disclosed Beglinger was ultimately put in a WRAP restraint and protective helmet. She is charged with five counts of felony-related crimes, including mayhem, aggravated injury to an elder/dependent adult, burglary/breaking and entering in the first degree, obstructing/resisting a peace officer, and aggravated obstructing/resisting an executive officer. Animals were present in the trailer, including a dog, and sheriff’s officials relayed that they were accounted for with no injuries reported.
This is not Belinger’s first encounter with the law; we reported earlier this year that she was arrested on suspicion of hitting an elderly man during an argument.
