A Black teenager was left with a concussion, chipped tooth and a number of other abrasions after a gaggle of teenage boys attacked him in a Simi Valley car parking zone whereas shouting racial slurs, authorities stated.
5 boys, all ages 16 and 17, had been charged Friday in reference to the assault, in accordance with the Ventura County district legal professional’s workplace.
Three of them face particular allegations of a hate crime, authorities stated.
The incident was captured on video. The recording exhibits the kids ganging up on Michael Robinson, 18, in a Regal Cinemas car parking zone round 11 p.m. on Aug. 1.
The boys might be seen throwing punches and heard saying the N-word as they chase Robinson across the lot. Two different victims had been additionally harmed within the assault, prosecutors stated.
Robinson advised Fox 11 Los Angeles that the group first focused his mates after which turned on him, slamming him into the hood of a automobile, pushing his head right into a trash can and repeatedly punching him at the back of the top.
“Actually, I assumed I used to be going to die,” he advised the station.
The incident sparked outrage throughout the Simi Valley neighborhood, with a number of residents calling on police to research it as a hate crime throughout an Aug. 4 Metropolis Council assembly. The Ventura County department of the NAACP urged an impartial inquiry into the assault.
One of many 5 alleged attackers is the son of a Simi Valley police sergeant, in accordance with division spokesperson Ryan Morton. The boy’s father was not a part of the legislation enforcement response to the assault and isn’t concerned within the investigation, Morton stated.
Morton stated that the Aug. 1 incident was related to a earlier altercation between the identical two units of teenagers. Two of the alleged attackers had been additionally charged for an additional altercation in the identical car parking zone on Could 30.
“He [Robinson] was hunted down, and it was very disgusting,” Robinson’s guardian, Brittany Martin, advised Fox 11. “This isn’t the primary time that these youngsters are literally doing this.”
Three of the alleged attackers have been charged with felony assault and particular allegations of a hate crime, prosecutors stated. A fourth was charged with felony assault, misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor prison threats, whereas a fifth was charged with misdemeanor threats and misdemeanor battery.
None of their names have been launched, as they’re all minors.
They’re all scheduled to be arraigned on the Ventura County Juvenile Justice Heart in Oxnard on Oct. 10, prosecutors stated. The courtroom will probably be open to the general public for instances involving the 4 teenagers with felony expenses, prosecutors stated.
“Hate crimes unfold worry, division and violence all through a whole neighborhood,” Ventura County Dist. Atty. Erik Nasarenko stated in a press release. “Our workplace is dedicated to holding these youths accountable and guaranteeing that justice is delivered for the victims and our neighborhood.”
Simi Valley Mayor Dee Dee Cavanaugh referred to as the video of the assault “heart-breaking.”
“We lengthen our help to Michael, his household, and all in Simi Valley who’ve been impacted by this hateful and traumatic incident,” she stated within the Aug. 7 assertion. “Let me be clear: Violence, harassment, racism, discrimination, using racial slurs, and gang-related exercise don’t have any place in Simi Valley.”
