War Games Buff to Be Tried in Border Attacks

An 18-year-old South Bay war games devotee pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he and three accomplices staged a series of robberies of migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border strip.

Jason Joel MacAllister, who formerly headed a teen-age paramilitary group that was featured in a national television broadcast, was ordered to stand trial Nov. 15 in San Diego Superior Court.

Also scheduled to go on trial that day are his three co-defendants--William E. Barnes, 24; Donald T. Young, 22, and Ruben A. Saucedo, 20--all of whom have previously entered not-guilty pleas.

All four are being held in lieu of bails ranging from $50,000 to $60,000. Each could face up to 18 years in prison if convicted.

On the night of Aug. 30, prosecutors allege, the four, dressed in military-type outfits, robbed or attempted to rob 11 Mexicans just north of the international border in San Ysidro. The victims were among the many migrants who attempt to enter the United States illegally each day, prosecutors say.

MacAllister was the ex-leader of a now-disbanded teen-age paramilitary group that called itself the Metal Militia. In February, a nationally televised Fox Broadcasting news segment aired sensational images of militia members as they prowled the border area in military garb and appeared to harass undocumented immigrants.

The program ignited an intense controversy in San Diego. MacAllister and other companions described the program as misleading and accused producers of manipulating the teen-age participants.

Fox stood by the veracity of its report. Later, a San Diego police investigation determined that youths had encountered and harassed migrants on at least one occasion last December, although no charges were filed in that incident.