LAGUNA NIGUEL : Arraignment Delay in Drive-By Shooting

Arraignment was postponed until today for an Oceanside man arrested in connection with a Christmas Eve drive-by shooting in San Clemente.

Appearing Monday before Judge Pamela Iles in South Orange County Municipal Court, Floyd Gerald Avery, 18, was granted a postponement so he could have an attorney present. The suspect’s bail remained at $250,000.

Avery, a former San Clemente resident, was arrested Jan. 4 by San Clemente police in connection with what is believed to be South County’s first gang-style shooting. Investigators with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s gang detail assisted in the case.

Also arrested were two 17-year-old San Juan Capistrano males who were allegedly riding in Avery’s car, which police found abandoned two days after the Dec. 24 shooting. The two younger suspects are being held in Juvenile Hall.

The shooting injured Prisca Caudillo, 4, who was hit with shotgun pellets as she played on the balcony of an apartment building on Avenida Pelayo in north San Clemente. She survived wounds to her face and upper torso.

Authorities have speculated that the shooting resulted from rivalry between two area gangs, the San Juan Boys and San Clemente Barrio Chico, though police said neither has a history of involvement in serious crime.

When arrested, Avery was living in Oceanside with his mother, his 15-year-old girlfriend and his 15-month-old daughter.