Man on the lam after alleged assault

The Glenn County Sheriff’s office is seeking a 26-year-old Orland man who is suspected of beating a woman with a crowbar Sunday.

Paul Tom LaFrance was last seen driving in a tan 1992 Ford Ranger, California license number 4N18073. The vehicle is considered stolen, according to a statement from Sheriff Larry Jones.

The Sheriff’s office received a 911 call from 37-year-old Nancy Floyd of Orland around 10 a.m., Sunday.

Deputies were dispatched to the 4000 block of County Road E, west of Orland. Floyd was found “covered in copious amounts of blood,” according to the Sheriff’s office. She suffered large lacerations to her head and left arm and was taken to Enloe Medical Center in Chico, the Sheriff’s office reported.

However, she was not listed as a patient on Monday, a nursing supervisor confirmed. It was not clear if she was treated at another hospital. A phone call to the Sheriff’s office was not immediately returned.

Floyd told deputies LaFrance had been staying at her home since about Wednesday of last week.

The two were reportedly working together Sunday on a large cleaning project on property owned by Floyd’s mother when they began arguing.

“(Floyd) became upset with LaFrance because he was not working to her satisfaction,” the Sheriff stated.

The fight escalated and LaFrance allegedly struck Floyd with a crowbar numerous times on her head and body, Jones reported.

According to the Sheriff’s office, following the alleged attack, LaFrance tried to escape in the pickup, but the parking brake was engaged.

Floyd told deputies she jumped into the moving truck, while bleeding, and tried to get the keys out of the ignition to stop LaFrance from escaping.

“LaFrance again swung the crowbar at her; impacting the claw end of the bar into her upper arm. LaFrance also struck the victim with his fists, forcing her out of the pickup,” the Sheriff’s statement said.

LaFrance is on parole for a firearms conviction and was released from state prison in July, according to the Sheriff’s office.

He is wanted on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, car jacking, robbery, domestic violence, and auto theft. LaFrance, now a parolee at large, is considered dangerous and should not be approached by citizens, the Sheriff said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff’s office at 934-6431.

For more on this story, check back online or read the Wednesday edition of the Willows Journal.

Contact Rob Parsons at 934-6800 or rparsons@tcnpress.com.