Two Girls Charged in Shooting of Officer
Two girls from Highland Park, ages 13 and 14, denied assault and robbery charges Wednesday in the holdup and shooting last Saturday of an off-duty Los Angeles police officer.
The officer, Stacy Lim, 27, was critically wounded in a gun battle outside her Santa Clarita home. A 16-year-old youth, Joel Garcia Valenzuela of Highland Park, was killed.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jaime Corral, sitting in the Northeast Juvenile Justice Center, ordered the girls held in a county juvenile detention center and set a trial date for July 9. They were charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted grand theft of an auto with a firearm involved.
The girls accompanied Valenzuela and a fourth suspect, Arvin Mani, 20, also of Highland Park, as they tried to steal Lim’s customized Ford Bronco, authorities said. The youths saw Lim near the Pasadena and Golden State freeways, liked the custom rims on her truck and followed her home, where they confronted her about 1:40 a.m. Saturday, police said.
Mani pleaded not guilty to an identical set of charges in Newhall Municipal Court Tuesday. He is being held in lieu of $1-million bail in the Los Angeles County Jail.
Lim remained in guarded but improving condition Wednesday at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, according to Police Lt. Dave Waterman of the Northeast Division, where Lim is assigned.
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