Civic Leader Allegedly Beaten by Her Son

The president of the Palo Alto Historical Assn. was critically injured after her son allegedly beat her when she scolded him for washing an iron skillet with soap.

Peter Winn Clarkson, 38, was booked on a charge of attempted homicide, police said. Susan Bright Winn, 61, was in intensive care at Stanford Medical Center with facial fractures and a throat injury.

When Clarkson called 911 on Monday morning, he said he was “mental” and had just attacked his mother with his fists during an argument. Clarkson asked that police come get him and said that both he and his mother “needed help,” according to police accounts.