Police Get Break With Photos of Gang Attack; 2 Youths Stabbed, 5 Are Arrested

In what Santa Monica police detectives described as a rare break in their efforts to stem gang violence, a passer-by captured on film an attack on the edge of Santa Monica College that left two juveniles in critical condition with stab wounds.

Five people were arrested in connection with the attack and booked for investigation of attempted murder. Police said the photographs, released Tuesday, will be used as evidence.

“You just don’t find this kind of evidence,” Detective Shane Talbot said. “The only thing that would be better is a video camera.”

The fight broke out at 7 p.m. Monday at a hamburger stand near Pico Boulevard and 18th Street, across the street from the campus. Police said several members of a Venice gang jumped two Santa Monica youths as “pay-back” for an alleged earlier attack by Santa Monica gang members on Venice rivals.

One 16-year-old boy from Venice was stabbed in the first minutes of the fight and staggered, bleeding, across the street to fall a few yards from the office of the college’s president, police and witnesses said. A second youth, a 17-year-old from Santa Monica, was tackled by five Venice gang members near a crowded bus stop, beaten and kicked before one of his attackers stabbed him, Talbot said.

Called to Scene

Police were called to the scene by a city bus driver. The youths fled onto campus and down an alley near 20th Street. Police chased them, an officer fired a shot and the youths stopped and were arrested, Santa Monica Police Sgt. John Meihle said.

Only later did officers learn that a passer-by had captured part of the incident on film.

One of the passer-by’s photographs showed five youths crouched over a sixth, in what police said was a beating that preceded the stabbing. Police said another of the at least five photographs showed youths carrying long sticks as they fled the scene.

Police refused to identify the photographer. In a brief telephone conversation with The Times, the photographer declined to be interviewed, citing fears of retaliation.

Police released only one of the photographs, inking out the faces of juveniles in the picture. Talbot said the picture was released to “encourage people to come forward and . . . put the message out to other gang-bangers to go somewhere else.”

Authorities said it often is difficult to find witnesses to Southern California’s gang stabbings and drive-by shootings. Police and prosecutors said the photographs of the Santa Monica attack have allowed them to identify potential witnesses and have armed them with extraordinary evidence.

“Generally, it’s hard enough to get witnesses to come in and tell us what they saw with their own eyes,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Paula Palmer, who will handle the case.

She had not yet seen the pictures, but said, “I anticipate the photos will be very helpful.”

Initially, seven men and boys were arrested. One juvenile was released when it was determined that he had not been involved in the fight, and one adult was held on unrelated allegations of parole violations.

The other five--plus the 16-year-old who is in the hospital--are expected to face counts of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, police said. Arraignment was scheduled for today.

The three adults who were in custody were identified by police as Lucio Miguel Raygosa, 24; Kenneth Hernandez Waller, 19, and Miguel Morales Sanez, 18, all of Venice. Names for the juveniles in custody--a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old--were not released. The names of the two youths being treated at UCLA Medical Center and Santa Monica Hospital were also not released.

Santa Monica College is located on the border of the city’s Pico neighborhood, a traditionally low-income area troubled by sporadic gang violence and drug peddling.

Police said the scale of crime in no way compares to other parts of the Los Angeles area, but gangs are known to frequent the neighborhood.