Boy Charged in CHP Killing

Two days after he reportedly admitted gunning down a California Highway Patrol officer outside a Pomona courthouse, 16-year-old Valentino Arenas appeared in the same court Friday, where he was arraigned on charges that he murdered the lawman to win stature in a street gang.

Arenas, who allegedly used his parents’ car to ambush CHP Officer Thomas Steiner on Wednesday, wore a white T-shirt and handcuffs as he stood before some of the same court personnel who had heard the fatal shots.

A slight youth with a shaved head, Arenas allegedly killed the officer to impress members of the 12th Street Pomona gang.

He has been accused by Los Angeles County Dist Atty. Steve Cooley of committing “the ultimate hate crime: the random assassination of a law enforcement officer.” He will face trial as an adult.

Prosecutors on Friday charged him with lying in wait, murdering a police officer and committing a murder during a drive-by shooting.

Because of his age, he cannot be sentenced to death if convicted, but he could spend the rest of his life in prison without hope of parole.

At Friday’s hearing, police and prosecutors described the teenager as an incorrigible juvenile delinquent and high school dropout who was surrounded by a family of law violators.

The youth told police he aspired only to be a gang member, and chose to kill the 35-year-old CHP officer to win notoriety, authorities said.

But at least one relative who attended the packed hearing insisted that prosecutors were wrong.

From her front-row seat, aunt Cecelia Arenas blew the defendant a kiss as deputies escorted him from the courtroom. As he left, the boy turned his head and looked fearfully toward the woman.

“He’s not in his right mind,” Cecelia Arenas said outside the courtroom. “He’s not a gang member. He’s never been in a gang. He’s a good kid; he’s a quiet kid.”

She said her nephew was working in construction with his grandfather in south Pomona and that “Things were going well in his life up until the shooting.”

Authorities say that is far from the case.

Arenas, authorities say, went by the street name “Lil Jr.” and court records show he had been found guilty of three juvenile offenses, including possession of a firearm. He once attended Garey High School in Pomona but dropped out.

The boy’s parents live in Fontana, though he spent most of his time living with his aunt and grandfather in south Pomona while his father was in prison.

Valentino Arenas, the father, was being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga Friday night on an outstanding warrant.

Cecelia Arenas, the boy’s aunt, has been on parole for the last month after her release from state prison for petty theft, according to parole records. She is not prohibited from associating with gang members.

An uncle, Marty, was paroled Friday from the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco after serving a sentence for burglary and possession of a controlled substance. He is a member of the 12th Street Pomona gang, parole officials said.

“It’s apparent that all the older family members, who are supposed to be role models, are not,” said Fernando Rios, deputy regional administrator in charge of field operations for the division of parole of the California Department of Corrections.

“Whether they are gang members or not, they project a lifestyle of criminals,” Rios added. “What does a 16-year-old look at? To be tough and be a criminal.”

Others who knew the teenager said they saw him headed for a difficult life.

“He wasn’t a natural-born killer with demonic tendencies,” said Jerome Rucker, a former teacher. “He was one of those kids I think was crying out for help.”

Rucker said Arenas was quick to get into fights and was always beaten up badly. He had been suspended several times but would still hang out on campus. He often skipped classes. He had a tough exterior and told everyone he wanted to be in the gang, Rucker said. He “wanted to be associated with something.”

Rucker said he tried to steer Arenas in the right direction, but it didn’t work. “I hate to say it, but I feel like this was a long time coming. I was praying that it wouldn’t come.”

Arenas did not enter a plea at Friday’s hearing. Prosecutors alleged that he killed “for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang.”

They said they would seek to try him in the same courthouse where the shooting occurred.

“We can get a fair trial in Pomona. This is where the incident happened. This is where his peers are,” said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for Cooley.

At the courthouse, more than 500 people, many of them uniformed police officers and firefighters, mourned Steiner at a candlelight vigil Friday night.

Pomona Mayor Eddie Cortez said the killing was a double tragedy.

“While one family will bury a loved one in a grave, one will bury theirs in a penitentiary ... a mere teenager,” Cortez said.

Steiner was the 201st CHP officer killed in the line of duty in the agency’s 75-year history.

His funeral was scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Calvary Chapel, at the corner of Woodruff Avenue and Imperial Highway in Downey.

Flags were flown at half-staff Friday in Pomona and, at the order of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the state Capitol in Sacramento.

In a statement, the governor called Steiner “a true hero.”

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Times staff writer Monte Morin contributed to this report.