Youths Plead Not Guilty in Spree That Ended in 15-Year-Old’s Death

Three teen-agers pleaded not guilty Thursday to 12 felony charges stemming from a crime spree that ended when a 15-year-old companion was shot and killed by an off-duty Los Angeles police detective in Sylmar.

The boys, whose names were not released because of their ages, were each charged with five counts of robbery, six counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of attempted robbery, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen said.

Charges will also be filed against a fourth juvenile who was wounded by the officer, Cohen said.

The teen-agers were initially held on suspicion of murder because the 15-year-old was killed during the commission of a crime, Cohen said. However, prosecutors did not file murder charges because they said they could not prove the teen-agers were responsible for the youth’s death.

The three teen-agers entering pleas--two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old--were in custody at Sylmar Juvenile Hall and are scheduled to appear in court April 23. The robbery attempt occurred last Friday as Salvador Gallegos, a veteran homicide detective with the Devonshire Division, was making a call from a pay phone at the Sylmar intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Maclay Street, police said.

One youth emerged from a van carrying four other boys and pointed a .25-caliber pistol at Gallegos, who fired several shots at the boy, hitting him in the neck, police said. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has identified the youth who was killed as Demond Island of Van Nuys.

The detective also fired at the van’s driver, striking him once in the left arm and chest. The 17-year-old was transferred in stable condition Thursday from Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills to the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center.

Police said the five were suspected in three robberies and a drive-by shooting before the fatal confrontation.

Police said the youths stole the van earlier in the day, then robbed a pizza delivery man of $40. They later stole a car from a man and fired two shots at witnesses who tried to stop the robbery. The boys drove by a house in San Fernando, shouted gang slogans and shot at a group of people in front of the house. None of the bystanders were injured.