Couple charged with torturing loan agents

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GLENDALE, Calif., Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A California couple facing foreclosure on their home kidnapped, beat and tortured two loan modification agents they had hired to help them, prosecutors say.

Authorities say Daniel Weston and Mary Ann Parmelee, both 52, of La Canada Flintridge, Calif., lured the two loan agents, Lamond Dean and Luis Garcia, to a Glendale, Calif., address last week where they and four others beat and robbed them after accusing them of doing nothing to help to help the pair save their home, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Police said the victims had worked with Parmalee, a real estate agent, on other foreclosure cases. She, Weston and three associates present when the alleged beatings occurred were being held on $1 million bail in the attack, which the Times said involved wooden knuckles and a handgun.

Parmelee and two associates -- Mario Solomon Gonzales, 47, of Glendale, and Marissa Parker, 49, of Sylmar, Calif. -- face two counts each of torture, false imprisonment by violence and second-degree robbery, to which they have pleaded not guilty, the Times said.

Weston and another man, Gustavo Canez, 36, were reportedly scheduled to appear in court Monday. Dean and Garcia were treated and released from a local hospital.