SIMI VALLEY : Man, 18, Sentenced for Resisting Arrest

A Simi Valley teen-ager who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest at a demonstration last year was sentenced Monday to 30 days in the county work-release program and three years probation.

Frederick Daniel Thomas, 18, was protesting a two-man rally in support of the Rodney G. King case verdicts last September when police arrested him on felony charges of assault, striking a horse and resisting arrest.

Hundreds of people calling themselves Neighbors Against Nazis gathered at the Simi Valley courthouse last fall to protest the rally, which supported the not-guilty verdicts for four Los Angeles police officers who were charged with brutality.

Thomas was accused of throwing rocks at police and at white supremacist Richard Barrett, and of using sticks to strike horses used by Ventura County sheriff’s deputies for crowd control. Thomas pleaded guilty Feb. 25 to a single misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.

At Monday’s sentencing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven C. Phillips asked for 60 days in county jail--30 days for resisting arrest and 15 days for each of two probation violations. Thomas was convicted last summer of illegal possession of a weapon and tampering with an automobile.

“Mr. Thomas was more than a spectator,” Phillips said. “He was looking to engage in conduct that would excite the crowd.”

But Ventura County Municipal Judge John E. Dobroth said there was no evidence that Thomas threw a bottle or struck one of the sheriff’s horses.

Deputy Public Defender Gary Windom said he was happy with the judge’s sentence.

“We had three felony matters eventually worked down to one misdemeanor conviction,” he said. “So we’re quite pleased.”

Thomas, who was given 17 days credit for time served, vowed to complete the work release and his high school education.

His mother, Debra Thomas, said the sentence would serve as a warning to her teen-age son.

“This is a message to him,” she said after the sentencing. “All the things he’s been charged with, he’s pretty much been able to skate by. Now it’s time to grow up.”