Teen Pleads Not Guilty in Shooting

A 19-year-old Lancaster man accused of taking part in an allegedly racial shooting outside a fast-food restaurant last month pleaded not guilty Wednesday to attempted murder charges, authorities said.

Thomas Edward Deal, 19, entered his plea before a judge in Los Angeles Municipal Court. Bail was set at $2.56 million.

Deal has been charged with five counts of attempted murder for his alleged role in a shooting outside a Lancaster Taco Bell on Nov. 24, said Los Angeles district attorney’s office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

Prosecutors allege Deal was driving a car from which a passenger fired at another car outside the restaurant. Five passengers, three of them black, were in that car, but no one was hurt, Gibbons said.

The shooter has not yet been arrested, Gibbons said.

Three of the counts against Deal carry a hate crime provision because three of the people in the car were African Americans.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carla Arranaga would not say what led the district attorney’s office to file the civil rights charges, saying more information would be released at subsequent court appearances.

A bail review hearing for Deal was set for Dec. 10.

A call to Deal’s attorney, Larry Layton of Acton, was not returned.