Doubts Rise in Skinhead Attack of Boy

Investigators uncovered evidence Friday suggesting that a Latino high school student who claimed he was punched and kicked by four skinheads was instead beaten by a man who was retaliating for a previous attack, authorities said.

Authorities said they have been unable to corroborate, either through witness accounts or physical evidence, Isaac Ramirez’s claim that four white men threw a beer bottle at him and told him to go back to Mexico as he walked home about 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Ramirez reported to police that the group chased him down and repeatedly punched him and kicked him, leaving a boot mark on his forehead, all the while yelling racial epithets.

“We began detecting some problems with the statements made by Ramirez, because we weren’t able to verify the information he was giving us,” Police Officer Mike Kelly said.

“He just made one inconsistent statement on top of another, and when investigators tried to clarify what he was saying, he became frustrated and upset with them. . . . He’s no longer talking to us.”

As detectives became increasingly skeptical of Ramirez’s statements, they were also receiving tips from informants who told police Ramirez’s version “was not the way it happened,” Kelly said.

The callers suggested that police question another man, who is Latino and Ramirez’s adversary in another fight, authorities said. The man’s name was being withheld because he has not been arrested.

“We contacted the suspect and he has been fully cooperative,” Kelly said. “He pointed us to another location and we’re continuing to investigate.”

No arrests have been made and the investigation continues. Ramirez could not be reached for comment.

“We want to make sure all of the evidence we have passes a test of veracity before we act on it,” Kelly said.

Kelly added that Ramirez could be arrested if investigators have evidence that he knowingly made a false report to police.

Ramirez, who police said is linked to a Los Angeles gang, told his mother after Wednesday’s attack that he was “jumped by skinheads” and she called police.

“At first, he told me not to call the police,” Ramirez’s 36-year-old mother, Precila Barnes, said after the attack. “He said, ‘What for?’ ”

But Barnes, seeing her son in pain, convinced him that it was the right thing to do. News of the beating prompted an outpouring of community support for the victim.

Mayor Pro Tem Ralph H. Bauer and Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff visited Ramirez at his home Thursday, offering sympathy and promises that everything possible would be done to find the culprits.

Ramirez took reporters to the drainage ditch where the crime allegedly occurred and showed them his boot mark along with other bruises.

The teenager even pointed out to television reporters that the crime happened near a clothing store named Zac Attac, which sells items such as the military-style black boots favored by skinheads.

Zac Attac owner Thom Tetreault said he was “embarrassed and humiliated” by accusations his store was linked to the alleged crime.

Tetreault said on the day of the alleged crime, he and a few co-workers were repairing the store’s roof and didn’t see anything, even though their elevated perch gave them a good view.

Other people who were in the area have said the same, Kelly said.