West Valley : 4 Suspects Arrested in Paint-Ball Attacks

Two Van Nuys men and two boys from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys were arrested for assault with a deadly weapon after shooting several people with paint-ball rifles early Friday morning along Sherman Way between Lindley and Winnetka avenues, authorities said.

Ruffy Joson Flores and Malcolm David Boyd, both 18, and the two 17-year-olds went on a shooting spree throughout the west San Fernando Valley, attacking pedestrians, bicyclists and transients with carbon dioxide-powered paint-ball rifles and recording it on video, police said.

Thomas McDonald, 30, of Reseda, was on his way with a friend to a store to buy a newspaper about 3 a.m. Friday when McDonald was struck in the face with a paint ball near Sherman Way and Lindley Avenue, police said. McDonald suffered a laceration and “a contusion the size of a golf ball” on his face, according to LAPD Sgt. Dan Mastro of the West Valley Division. McDonald was treated by paramedics at the scene, Mastro said.

Moments later, police officers witnessed another paint-ball attack on a man walking a dog near Sherman Way and Winnetka Avenue. Police pulled over a gray Toyota Camry whose passengers had tossed out a paint-ball rifle, Mastro said.

In addition, police seized a second gun, about 200 paint balls and a video camera from the car. When police reviewed the videotape from the camera, it showed more than 20 attacks, including the two incidents that occurred early Friday, Carnahan said.

The rifles, which fire pellets of paint, “can take out an eye or cause a head injury, depending on where you hit,” Sgt. Daniel Carnahan of the West Valley Division said.

Flores and Boyd are being held at the West Valley jail in Reseda, each on $40,000 bail. One juvenile was sent to Sylmar Juvenile Hall; the other was released to his parents.