4 Sentenced for Attacking Graffiti Fighters

Four members of a street gang were sentenced to prison Thursday for their roles in an attack that injured two patrolling members of a citizens anti-graffiti group, including a 67-year-old man who suffered permanent injuries.

North Valley Superior Court Judge Charles Peven called the assailants, who earlier pleaded guilty to assault charges, “a bunch of cowards.”

“None of you would face [the victims] one on one,” Peven told the four.

The Santa Clarita Pride Committee volunteers were on a late-night bicycle patrol April 6 looking for evidence of graffiti when they came upon the four in the parking lot of Sierra Vista Junior High School.

After a brief exchange of words, sheriff’s investigators said, the suspects attacked the volunteers with their hands and feet, inflicting cuts and bruises that required emergency medical treatment and that left one of the two with permanent damage to an eye and a knee.

On Thursday, Jose Lopez, 23, and Antonio Caballero, 24, were each sentenced to two years in prison, and Adolfo Guzman, 20, and Joel Chapela, 23, received sentences of three years.

The men, all from Canyon Country, had criminal records, authorities said. The sentences of the latter suspects were increased due to prior convictions on violent offenses.

A fifth assailant, a 16-year-old boy, earlier pleaded guilty to assault charges and is currently serving one year in a Los Angeles County Probation Department youth camp, said Deputy Alan Young of the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station.

The Santa Clarita Pride Committee is a volunteer force that checks schools, shopping malls and other areas for graffiti and other crimes. Although most of the volunteers do their patrolling during the day, the two volunteers who were attacked said they prefer to ride their bikes at night when the air is cool and there is less automobile traffic.

Dianna Boone, who supervises the Pride Committee, said the April attack was the first and only time volunteers have been assaulted while on patrol.

“I thought the sentences were just and fair considering that these men showed no mercy,” Boone said. “This was not just an average fight, it was quite savage, and they have to take responsibility for what they did.”

Despite their injuries, the two volunteers have since returned to the job, Boone said.

“They are totally dedicated to this community and we all owe them a debt of gratitude for the work they do,” Boone said.