4 Teens Charged in Slaying of Tarzana Boy

Four teenage boys were charged with murder and assault with a deadly weapon Tuesday in the stabbing death of a Tarzana boy who tried to bar the teens from crashing an Encino birthday party last weekend, authorities said.

Prosecutors will request that the boys be tried as adults, said Los Angeles Dist. Atty. spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

The boys, two 17-year-olds from Northridge, a 16-year-old from Chatsworth and a 16-year-old from Granada Hills, were being held in Juvenile Hall on Tuesday.

They are scheduled to be arraigned this morning in Sylmar Juvenile Court, Gibbons said. The boys’ names were not released because they are minors.

The victim, Abtin Tangestanifar, 17, was beaten and stabbed with a knife and screwdriver outside of a house early Sunday in the 17900 block of Medley Drive. He was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police later arrested the four youths and recovered the suspected murder weapon--a buck knife.

Police have said between five and eight suspected gang members attempted to crash the party and Tangestanifar refused to allow them to enter the house. Instead of leaving, they lingered outside.

After Tangestanifar and his friends left the party, they were confronted by the youths, who asked whether they were part of a gang. When Tangestanifar said he didn’t belong to a gang, he was attacked, authorities said.

Police described the youths as members of a local street gang active in the North Hollywood area.