Outrage, Fear Follow San Clemente Stabbing : Violence: Sheriff and high school are inundated with calls from angry and anxious parents and students.

As 17-year-old Steve Woods lay in a coma Monday--his prognosis still grim after the removal of a metal rod lodged in his skull--anxious parents flooded the sheriff’s office and San Clemente High School with questions about gangs, violence and what has become of their community.

Counselors fanned out across the campus to meet with students, particularly Woods’ classmates. And a group of about 30 parents passed out green ribbons reading, “Stop Youth Violence. Support Steve,” while student leaders plastered the campus with “Stop the Violence” posters.

“There are lots of emotions to deal with here,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Davis, whose own children attend San Clemente High. “Parents are angry and fearful. They say their kids have nightmares and can’t sleep. They want to know if they can take matters into their own hands.”

The school was in shock after reports that a gantlet of alleged gang members stood at the exit of Calafia Beach County Park in San Clemente on Friday night and pelted four carloads of students with beer bottles, rocks, even a tennis racket, as the youths attempted to speed away.

Amid the frenzy of car windows shattering, someone plunged a metal rod from a paint roller into the skull of Woods, a popular high school senior who had joined his friends in the parking lot of the park to relax after a football game.

Sheriff’s officials speculated that the car in which Woods was a passenger was traveling 30 to 45 m.p.h. as he apparently stuck his head out a window to see what was happening and was speared.

Within seven hours of what sheriff’s officials said was an apparently unprovoked attack, the first of nine suspects--all of whom police have linked to the San Clemente Varrio Chico gang--was taken into custody as he arrived home at about 5 a.m. Saturday.

Twelve hours later--at 5 p.m.--the last suspect was arrested at a relative’s house in San Clemente. Carrying a backpack, Arturo Villalobos, 20, had been planning to flee to Mexico, sheriff’s officials said.

In all, five juveniles--four of them San Clemente High students--were arrested, as well as four adults: Villalobos, Juan Alcocer Enriquez, 20, Pascual Guerrero Bonilla, 19, and Balfred Brito, 19.

The adults were booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and were being held on $250,000 bail each. The juveniles--three 17-year-olds and two 16-year-olds--were being held on suspicion of attempted murder at Juvenile Hall. Their names were not released because of their ages.

All of the suspects live in San Clemente. No other arrests are planned.

Investigators declined to discuss their methods in locating the suspects, but Davis said the starting point was an eyewitness description that detailed one of the suspects’ vehicles, a pickup truck with a camper shell.

Late Friday and into Saturday evening, about 25 members of the Sheriff’s Department, including homicide investigators, a gang enforcement team and a group of patrol officers, fanned out in the community tracking down leads.

The San Clemente Varrio Chico--a variation of the name “barrio chico,” or “small neighborhood”--is well-known in South County for its fearsome feud with the San Juan Boys, a rival gang out of San Juan Capistrano, that dates back at least a decade.

The rivalry resulted in the unintentional wounding of a 4-year-old girl on Christmas Eve of 1989 and the shooting death of a 26-year-old San Clemente Varrio Chico gang member in 1990.

The nine arrested Saturday are part of an “up-and-coming generation” who had been involved in the gang as members or affiliates only for the past couple of years, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Russ Moore, an expert on gangs.

At least two of the four adults, Villalobos and Brito, have criminal records. Brito and Villalobos pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery charges last March after they beat up a Dana Point man they mistook for a rival gang member. They were sentenced to 30 days in jail, placed on three years probation and ordered not to associate with other gang members or wear gang-related clothing, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Lorri Silberman.

Department of Motor Vehicles records also indicate Villalobos’ license has been suspended for failing to appear in court on several routine traffic violations dating back to February, 1992.

Max Madrid, director of gang prevention for the nonprofit Community Service Programs, which provides an array of services for teen-agers, said that some of the suspects had been involved in past CSP counseling programs. Madrid was part of the crisis counseling team at San Clemente High School on Monday morning.

Two of the adult suspects work in construction, while one of the juveniles worked as a painter, Madrid said. Some of the suspects had attended San Clemente High and a few had since dropped out of school, he said.

Natividad Brito, the mother of one of the suspects, said Monday that she was saddened by the attack on Woods.

“No one should have to have their son go through that pain,” she said, crying. “And to have a son that is implicated in it, it feels terrible.”

The 40-year-old woman, who came from Guerrero, Mexico, six years ago, said she prays her son was not involved in the incident. Yet, she fears the worst, she said.

“He has a lot of friends, but he says they’re just friends, not a gang,” she said.

The mother, who said she saved up enough money as a housekeeper to bring her son and daughter from Mexico four years ago, added that she has tried to steer her son away from bad influences.

Her son had been jailed after a brawl with other teen-agers in March but was cleared of the charges, she said.

“He promised me he wasn’t going to go out with those kind of kids anymore,” she said.

While the attack on Woods stunned San Clemente, it has been especially hard for students and staff at San Clemente High, where Woods is well-liked.

“Mostly people are sad about what happened,” said Dylan Newman, who is president of his senior class. “We feel sorry for him and the situation he’s been put in.”

Student body President Jenny Verti said she noticed that students were “really down” about the crime, and many were upset that they can’t even feel safe going to the beach at night anymore.

School psychologist Loren O’Connor said that the attack on Woods has stripped many of the students of their innocence.

By midmorning, about 25 students had requested counseling, according to school officials.

“When kids have been traumatized, they feel a sense of vulnerability,” O’Connor said. “This tragedy is very startling for them. It creates mistrust, anger and resentment. . . . The brutality just affects everyone.”

Family members and friends of Woods continued to hold a vigil in a waiting room at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo. Woods remained in critical condition and was breathing with the aid of a ventilator, a hospital official said.

Times staff writers Jeff Brazil, Alicia Di Rado, Lily Dizon, Rebecca Trounson and correspondent Frank Messina contributed to this report.

* TURNING POINT: Assault on students signals change in gang behavior. A14