GROUND AND AIR SEARCH FINDS MAN ACCUSED OF BEATING HIS MOTHER

Law enforcement searched on the ground and in the air for a Yucca Valley man accused of beating up his mother Sunday. According to Sheriff’s Sergeant Matt Yost, Charles Pritchett, 29, a parolee who was high on drugs, hit his mother in the face at her home in the 7200 block of Apache Trail about 8:30 Sunday morning. The woman left the scene, and said Pritchett followed her to the Yucca Valley Elks Lodge on Yucca Trail. When Sheriff’s deputies arrived, he fled. Yost said the California Highway Patrol helped in the search for Pritchett, as well as a Sheriff’s helicopter. About 12:30, a resident in the Apache Mobile Home Park told deputies he discovered a man hiding in his shed. Deputies confronted Pritchett in the shed, who came out of the shed fighting. Yost said it took four deputies to subdue Pritchett. Charles Pritchett was arrested for investigation of assault on a police officer, the third time he’s been charged with resisting arrest since 2006. He was booked at the Morongo Basin Jail with his bail set at $50,000.