6 Boys Charged in Alleged Beatings Caught on Video

Six teenage boys have been arrested on suspicion of making a video of themselves harassing and beating other youngsters at random in their affluent neighborhoods on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Although the alleged assaults occurred last summer, authorities discovered the video in November after the teenagers tried to sell copies to their friends at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School for $20 apiece, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.

A student turned over a copy to Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Del Pinto, who teaches a popular class at Peninsula High.

The suspects, five of whom are 14 years old and freshmen at Palos Verdes Peninsula, were arrested on charges ranging from felony assault to conspiracy to instigate fights. The other is a 16-year-old junior at Rancho Del Mar Continuation School.

They have been released to their parents while the district attorney reviews the cases, authorities said.

Students who have seen it described scenes from the 18-minute video in which the suspects ambushed other teenagers walking alone or in pairs, punching and kicking their victims, sometimes even after they had fallen to the ground.

“One kid had crutches kicked out from under him. This other kid, they kept kicking him and throwing dirt in his face” said Peninsula junior Matt Countryman, 16, as he headed home from the Rolling Hills Estates school Wednesday.

Countryman said a friend of his was given a copy of the tape, and they watched it on a VCR in the friend’s car between classes. “After like five minutes we came back to campus. We were so mad,” Countryman said.

Other students recalled that the video shows the suspects repeatedly harassing several youngsters eating at a local restaurant, sticking food in the face of one 12-year-old boy whose arm was in a cast.

Police have refused to release the names of the suspects or the victims because they are all minors. Some victims suffered bruises and cuts, but none were seriously hurt.

Sheriff’s Deputy Laura Haynes said she has worked on juvenile cases before but was shocked by the video. “ I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite so disturbing. The fact that they preyed on innocent victims, and because they live in such a nice area, go to a good school, have opportunities, and they just blow it off . . . it’s a shame,” she said.

Peninsula Principal Kelly Johnson said the students are continuing to attend classes. “I have no authority to suspend any of them. It did not take place during school year. It did not take place on school property or at a school event,” he said.

But Johnson said he has made clear that he will not tolerate such activities on campus and said he doubts there will be any such incidents. “The kids seeing that youngsters were arrested, it makes a big impression. They know exactly what’s going on,” he said. Many Peninsula High students said they were disgusted by the tapes and are glad authorities are investigating.

Some of the suspects, who initially bragged to friends about their “prank,” have been ostracized by other students. And some students say that two of the suspects have been beaten by other students angered by the video.