2 Held in Robbery of Junior High Teacher

Two suspected Moorpark gang members were being held Saturday in connection with the robbery of a Northridge junior high teacher attacked on his way to class, police said.

A 16-year-old boy and Andres Meza, 21, were arrested in Moorpark about 10 a.m. Friday after they led Ventura County sheriff’s deputies on a short pursuit in a stolen car near Moorpark College, Ventura County Sheriff’s Det. Allen Devers said.

Meza was booked on suspicion of robbery and is being held without bail in Los Angeles County Jail, authorities said. An arraignment date was not available.

The teenager is being held on suspicion of robbery in an undisclosed juvenile facility and will face auto-theft charges in Ventura County, Devers said.

Police said both suspects are members of a Moorpark gang. A third person remains at large, Devers said.

Ventura County deputies Friday morning were investigating a reported car burglary near Campus Park Drive in Moorpark when they saw a 1988 gray Dodge Colt being driven in a suspicious manner on Penn Street, Devers said.

When deputies attempted to stop the car on Penn Street the driver drove a few blocks, then pulled into an alley and three people jumped out of the car, Devers said.

Deputies apprehended the teen and Meza after a brief pursuit on foot, Devers said.

Stolen property found in the car linked the suspects to two robberies in the San Fernando Valley, including the Friday morning robbery of a 54-year-old Granada Hills man who was mugged outside the Northridge junior high school where he teaches, Devers said.

Police said no weapons were found in the car.