Five Teens Charged in Simi Valley Theater Hate Assault

Ventura County prosecutors have charged five juveniles — three 17-year-olds and two 16-year-olds — in connection with an early-August brawl outside the Regal movie theater in Simi Valley that injured three people and was captured on video. Three of the teens are charged with felony assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury with a special hate-crime allegation; a fourth faces felony assault plus misdemeanor criminal threats and battery, and a fifth faces misdemeanor criminal threats and battery. Authorities say two of the suspects are also charged in a separate May 30 altercation in the same parking lot. Video and victim testimony, including from 18-year-old Michael Robinson, show the group chasing, beating and allegedly using racial slurs against victims, prompting District Attorney Erik Nasarenko to condemn the attacks as hate crimes. The suspects’ names have been withheld because they are minors, all five are scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 10, and the Simi Valley Police Department says an officer related to one juvenile will be recused from the investigation.