Five arrested on charges of torture, robbery

GLENDALE — A La Cañada couple and a Glendale man were among five people charged with beating and torturing two loan modification agents who were working to keep the couple out of foreclosure, officials said.

The couple — Daniel Weston, 52, and Mary Ann Parmelee, a 52-year-old Realtor — allegedly grew frustrated with the loan agents because they thought not enough was being done to get their home on the 4800 block of La Cañada Boulevard out of foreclosure, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Weston and Parmelee — together with Glendale resident Mario Gonzales, 47, Marissa Parker, 49, of Sylmar, and Gustavo Canez, 36, of Los Angeles — planned the attack on the two agents, the district attorney’s office stated.

The group allegedly set up a meeting Oct. 20 with the agents at an undisclosed location in the Glendale area, where the attack occurred.

Weston and Canez, a convicted felon, allegedly beat the agents while the others watched. The agents’ loan paperwork and other valuables were also stolen, according to the district attorney’s office.

Parker, Parmelee and Gonzales were charged with two counts of torture, two counts of false imprisonment by violence and two counts of second-degree robbery, according to a criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Gonzales faces an additional charge of possessing wood knuckles, which is considered a deadly weapon, according to the criminal complaint.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges and are being held in a Los Angeles County jail in lieu of $1-million bail.

Weston and Canez pleaded not guilty Monday in Glendale Superior Court to two counts of torture, two counts of false imprisonment by violence and two counts of second-degree robbery, according to the criminal complaint. Prosecutors also allege they used a gun during the attack.

Canez was convicted of assault with a firearm in March 2000, according to Superior Court records.

The pair’s bail was set at $2.2 million.

The entire group is scheduled to appear Nov. 2 in Burbank Superior Court for a preliminary hearing.

 VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.