ORANGE : Youth to Be Held Pending His Trial

A 17-year-old will remain in custody before his trial on felony charges of child endangerment and possessing the stolen gun used in the wounding of his 4-year-old brother, a judge has ruled.

The youth, an alleged gang member whose name was withheld because of his age, could have been released to his parents pending his trial, which is scheduled to begin June 10 in Orange County Juvenile Court.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robin Park said Wednesday that she asked the Probation Department at a Tuesday afternoon detention hearing to investigate the merits of trying the youth as an adult.

Authorities say the youth left his young brothers alone in the family’s Garden Grove home the morning of May 9 and returned to find 4-year-old Charles Dolan bleeding profusely from a bullet wound to the chest. During a game of cops and robbers, the boy had been accidentally shot by his 5-year-old brother, who had found a .357 magnum revolver beside the youth’s bed.

Police say the gun had been stolen Feb. 22 in Cypress during a home-invasion robbery in which three masked Vietnamese youths terrorized seven occupants at gunpoint before fleeing with weapons, cash and jewelry.

The youth, who told The Times last week that he is “17 1/2,” will have a pretrial hearing May 23.

Charles Dolan remained in fair condition Wednesday at UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he may soon be transferred from the intensive care unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.