Hate crime charges filed against teen suspects in Simi Valley attack caught on video
Hate crime charges have been filed against several teenagers after a fight outside of a Simi Valley movie theater this summer.
In total, five teens are charged in connection to the crime: three of them are charged with felony assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, plus the special allegation of a hate crime. A fourth juvenile is charged with felony assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, as well as misdemeanor criminal threats and misdemeanor battery. The fifth suspect is charged with misdemeanor criminal threats and misdemeanor battery.
The Ventura County District Attorney's Office said two of the juvenile suspects are 16 years old and three of them are 17. Due to their ages, the suspects' names will not be released. The alleged assaults include three separate victims.
"Hate crimes spread fear, division and violence throughout an entire community," said District Attorney Nasarenko. "Our office is committed to holding these youth accountable and ensuring that justice is delivered for the victims and our community."
Nasarenko's office noted that two of the suspects are also charged in another altercation in the same parking lot on May 30.
PREVIOUS REPORT: Simi Valley residents call for hate crime charges against teenagers in attack caught on video
The group of teens is accused of yelling racial slurs at one of the victims, who is Black. Police say they chased the victim down and attacked him.
All five juvenile suspects have an arraignment scheduled for Oct. 10.
Officers responded around 11 p.m. on Aug. 1 to a report of an assault in a parking lot at 2751 Tapo Canyon Road, according to a news release. A group of teenagers approached another group at the Regal Plaza, and at some point, a fight broke out, according to the Simi Valley Police Department. The two groups have had prior altercations, police said.
Several teenagers are accused of yelling racial slurs at Michael Robinson as they chased him down and attacked him outside the movie theater.
Robinson's supporters claim he was targeted because he's Black.
"My situation is just thinking you're going to die," Robinson said. "You just start thinking about your life and people who you talk to every day, who you might not get to see again, and stuff like that."
"They were hitting me in the back of my head and.... I know what happens when you get hit in the back of your head," he added. "It was a shocking experience."
In a viral video of the incident, the group of teenagers is seen hurling punches, kicks and racial slurs against the victim, who was dressed in black.
Robinson said he was with his friends when the other group approached him. When the fight broke out, Robinson said he tried to run away.
"They catch me again and they end up shoving my head in a trash can," he told Eyewitness News. "And this whole time they were jumping me, I haven't really been getting hit anywhere else except the back of my head and my back."
Robinson said he suffered a concussion, a back injury and even chipped a tooth.
He said one of his friends had previous issues with the group and claims that friend tried to calm tensions, but the fight broke out anyway.
