Prosecutors Show Video of Paint-Ball Attacks

Two San Fernando Valley teenagers accused of randomly attacking pedestrians and bicyclists with baseball bats and paint-pellet guns kept their eyes averted in court Tuesday as prosecutors presented evidence that left viewers recoiling and cringing--a videotape of the attacks shot by the young men themselves.

The videotape, played during a preliminary hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court, shows Malcom Boyd, 19, of Van Nuys, firing dozens of bruising paint pellets at victims from a car and using a bat to shatter at least one windshield and beat at least one bicyclist. His attorney, Bruce Margolin, acknowledged that Boyd appears on the tape.

Ruffy Flores, 18, of Chatsworth, taped the incidents last November from the backseat of the vehicle, his attorney, Leonard Levine, said in an interview.

Both men could face up to 16 counts of felony vandalism if the judge rules that there is enough evidence to go to trial. The hearing is expected to continue today.

When he entered the courtroom, Flores, a Chatsworth High School senior, grimaced before the onlookers, which included friends and family members. He drooped his head as the tape played. At one point, his head and shoulders slumped so low he was nearly doubled over in his seat.

Boyd, who graduated from Birmingham High School in May and attended Valley College, held his head in his hands as the video played.

Witnesses said the young men fired the paint pellets with guns used for “war games,” a grown-up version of tag where participants fire at each other with pellets that travel as fast as 300 feet a second. Usually, the games are played with goggles, helmets and protective clothing.

On the video, teenage voices could be heard cheering in the background as each victim recoiled and stumbled from the impact. Occasionally, Boyd faced the camera and spoke. “Today we have no guns and stuff so we’re going to bash,” he said at one point.

Among the scenes shown in the video: One victim, a bicyclist hit with about eight orange-red paint pellets, shielded his body from the blows and crashed headlong into a parked car. A woman sitting beside a building was pelted in the face and chest, and curled over on her side, moaning. Another cyclist was whacked twice with a baseball bat and hurled to the ground in a heap.

“It’s weird,” said Boyd on the tape, laughing, “because when you shoot, all you can see is their eye whites and their teeth.”

It is unclear what other passengers not pictured in the video did, although their voices could often be heard.

“Get him in his face! Get him!” yelled one unidentified voice in the video, rock music playing in the background.

A Los Angeles Police Department patrol unit happened upon a man who had just been shot with paint pellets Nov. 10, 1995. Bleeding, the man pointed out the teenagers’ gray car driving south on Winnetka Avenue near Sherman Way. After a short car chase, police arrested the the two men and two juveniles.

One of the juveniles was taken to Sylmar Juvenile Hall and the other released to his parents.