Iranian, 16, Pleads Not Guilty in Clash at Rally
A 16-year-old Iranian pleaded not guilty Friday to felony charges that he tried to run down several pro-war demonstrators in his father’s Rolls-Royce. The boy entered his plea in Inglewood Juvenile Court and was released into the custody of his father, lawyers said. A pretrial hearing was set for Feb. 27.
The district attorney’s office charged the teen-ager with five felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon stemming from an incident at a pro-Gulf War rally at the Federal Building in Westwood.
The high school student, who lives on Rodeo Drive in an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood, was arrested about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday in his father’s 1979 Rolls-Royce sedan. The teen-ager mingled on foot with protesters and “had an argument with pro-war demonstrators,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Harry Snyder said. The boy drove around the block and “when some demonstrators crossed the street, he accelerated and tried to run them over,” Snyder said. The pedestrians were not hurt.
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