Two teenage boys who attacked a Black 18-year-old man with punches and racial slurs in a Simi Valley parking zone over the summer season have admitted to committing a hate crime and felony assault, the Ventura County district legal professional’s workplace stated.
The Aug. 1 assault, captured on video, reveals the sufferer, Michael Robinson, being swarmed by a gaggle of teenage boys in a Regal Cinemas parking zone about 11 p.m., as they pummel him with punches and racial slurs as he tries to get away.
Earlier this month, Ventura County prosecutors introduced they have been charging 5 boys in reference to the assault, all of them 16 or 17 years outdated, together with one boy who’s the son of a Simi Valley police sergeant.
Three of the kids 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. The fifth was charged with misdemeanor threats and misdemeanor battery.
Their names haven’t been launched as a result of they’re minors.
The 2 boys who admitted to their fees on Thursday are scheduled to be sentenced subsequent month. The remaining defendants are scheduled to be arraigned in mid-November.
In movies of the assault, a gaggle of boys are seen punching Robinson and heard saying the N-word as they chased Robinson across the lot, in keeping with footage of the incident. Two different folks have been additionally injured within the assault, officers stated.
After the assault, Robinson advised Fox 11 Los Angeles that the group of teenagers focused his mates first earlier than turning on him, slamming him right into a automobile, pushing his head right into a trash can and punching him at the back of the top.
“Actually, I believed I used to be going to die,” he stated.
Simi Valley Police Division spokesperson Ryan Morton stated the sergeant whose son was charged within the assault will not be part of the investigation.
In line with Robinson’s guardian, the assault was related to a earlier altercation between the identical two teams of teenagers.
“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 children are literally doing this.”
Although the date of the earlier altercation was not instantly recognized, one of many teenagers who admitted to a hate crime on Thursday additionally admitted to creating prison threats throughout an incident on Might 30 on the identical location. One of many different teenagers within the group can be being prosecuted in reference to the Might 30 incident.
