Deputy public defender charged with attacking wife, children

Shasta deputy public defender charged with attacking wife, children

A Shasta County deputy public defender appeared in court Friday to face charges in a brutal attack on his own family.

According to a press release from the Redding Police Department, Theodore R.F. Loos, 73, was arrested last Wednesday after he allegedly attacked his wife and children with a splitting maul, a tool that is a cross between an ax and a sledgehammer. Police said Loos’ wife is hospitalized in critical condition with “life-threatening injuries” while the two minor children were treated for minor injuries and released.

Loos attacked each of the children before his son was able to disarm him, according to police. They found their mother with “massive wounds to her head and face.”

He faces three counts of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, one count of domestic violence, and two counts of causing injury to a child. He is being held in lieu of $1.5 million bond, according to the Shasta County district attorney’s office. People v. Loos, CR-F-19-0003833 (Shasta Super. Ct., filed June 21, 2019).

Loos faces an arraignment hearing on July 26 and is represented by a Michael C. Borges, a Redding criminal defense attorney, according to court records. State Bar records indicate Loos has been a member since 1974, with no record of discipline.

— Malcolm Maclachlan