CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / RICHMOND

A 15-year-old girl who went to her homecoming dance at Richmond High School was gang raped and beaten for at least two hours while more than a dozen witnesses saw the assault but failed to call police, authorities said Monday.

The attack occurred Saturday around 9:30 p.m. after the girl had left the dance and was waiting for a ride from her father. A male student she knew took her to a dark alley behind one of the school buildings where he and about six others began raping and beating her, police said.

During the ordeal, which lasted 2 to 2 1/2 hours, more than a dozen witnesses passed by or watched, police said.

When police arrived, several suspects fled and the girl was found naked from the waist up, said Lt. Mark Gagan. She was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

Police say alcohol was consumed and they are awaiting toxicology reports on the girl.

A former student, Manuel Ortega, 19, was later arrested on charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping, police said. He was being held Monday in lieu of $800,000 bail.

A 15-year-old student was arrested Monday evening on one count of felony sexual assault, police said.

-- Robert J. Lopez