Felony charges filed in beating of 81-year-old man at Redondo Beach Elks Lodge

Nearly two months after an attack he claims was unprovoked, victim Joseph Lordeon says he still feels traumatized

By Scott Schwebke

Felony assault and elder abuse charges have been filed in connection with the Cinco de Mayo beating of an 81-year-old man at the Redondo Beach Elks Lodge.

Charging documents filed last week by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office indicated Lamont Dominic Steele’s alleged assault on Joseph Lordeon involved significant “violence, cruelty and viciousness” that indicated a “serious danger to society.”

Steele, 52, who is married to Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Nashana Steele, will be arraigned July 22 at the Torrance courthouse on charges of elder abuse and assault likely to produce great bodily injury. The couple could not be reached for comment Tuesday, June 25.

Lordeon, in a brief telephone interview, said he is satisfied with the charges against his alleged attacker, describing it as a “good deal.”

“I spent a lot of time in the hospital and am still kind of traumatized,” said Lordeon, who claims Steele cold-cocked him in an unprovoked attack.

Lordeon told the Southern California News Group that his ordeal began about 4:30 p.m. May 5  when he visited the Elks Lodge on the eastern edge of the oceanfront Veterans Park to meet some friends. On his way out about 15 minutes later, he said, a lodge member invited him to have some food at a private party attended by about 45 people in another bar at the north end of the lodge.

Lordeon was handed a plate, helped himself to some salad from a buffet table, and walked away after a woman he didn’t know said he wasn’t supposed to be there. Lordeon replied that he had been invited and walked into the lobby with his plate.

Almost as soon as he sat down, he said, Steele smacked him on the left side of the head, knocking him unconscious.

Lordeon was transported by ambulance to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and treated for a large facial wound, rib injuries, and soft tissue damage.

Redondo Beach police have not released information about the assault. However, a seven-page, heavily redacted investigative report obtained by the Southern California News Group offers conflicting details from police interviews with witnesses.

A woman — presumably Nashana Steele — told police she asked Lordeon to leave the private party, noting he had not been paying his lodge membership dues. She alleges Lordeon refused to leave and shoved her with his right upper arm and shoulder, according to the report.

Lordeon denies touching the woman.

The report states Lamont Steele was on the patio at the lodge when someone told him a man had assaulted his wife. He then went looking for the man and soon found him.

Steele claims he asked the man if he had touched his wife, to which the man replied “f— you.” This upset him further, prompting him to allegedly punch the man once with a closed fist, the report said.

Lordeon fell to the ground unconscious and the assailant claimed to have slapped him to wake him up to tell him that he needed to leave the lodge, according to the report.

A Redondo Beach police officer who viewed the lodge’s security video of the incident said in the report that the assault was unprovoked, adding that Lordeon was punched three times, picked up from the couch, and pushed to the floor. The attacker then stood over Lordeon, slapped him with an open hand, left the lodge and drove home.

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Felony charges filed in beating of 81-year-old man at Redondo Beach Elks Lodge