4 Teen-Agers Arrested in Escondido Mall Shooting

A 16-year-old Escondido youth was in fair condition Tuesday after being shot in an apparently gang-related dispute at a shopping mall that ended with the arrests of four teen-agers after a three-hour search.

The unidentified victim was hospitalized at Palomar Medical Center after being shot three times outside the Red Lobster restaurant in the North County Fair mall about 1:15 p.m. Monday, Escondido Police Detective Ralph Claytor said.

Two of the four suspects were injured in an accident after they fled the mall in a car that police said they had stolen twice.

Police said the injured suspects were a 17-year-old boy and Benedicto Ymas, 18. The unidentified juvenile was reported in fair condition Tuesday at Sharp Memorial Hospital, and Ymas was released from the hospital Tuesday and held at the Vista Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, burglary and possession of stolen property, officials said.

The other two juveniles, ages 15 and 16, were held at Juvenile Hall in San Diego on suspicion of attempted murder, auto theft and burglary, Escondido Police Lt. John Wilson said. All four were believed to be from San Diego.

Wilson said the four had stolen the Honda twice in three days. The first time, the owner’s San Diego home was burglarized and credit cards were taken. The car was recovered, but the boys still had the key and went back and stole it again, he said.

They tried to buy clothing at several stores in the mall with the pilfered credit cards but were unsuccessful because the cards had been reported stolen, Wilson said. They then spotted the 16-year-old, believed to be from a rival gang, and an argument ensued, in which one of the teen-agers shot at the fleeing youth six or seven times.

The four then fled, ramming a security truck near the exit. The car was found overturned on the southbound shoulder of Interstate 15 south of Lake Hodges about 1:30 p.m., Claytor said. Two of the teen-agers were thrown from the vehicle.

Witnesses told police that the four then ran through a retirement center.

About 60 officers from the Escondido and San Diego police departments, San Diego Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Customs Service used helicopters, dogs and boats in a three-hour search at the lake before the four were found in the bushes along the lake’s edge, Wilson said.

He said police recovered a loaded .357 magnum and a 9-millimeter handgun that was used in the shooting.