Five teenagers face charges for serious crimes, including assault and hate crimes, after allegedly attacking several people in the parking lot of a Simi Valley movie theater, officials announced on Friday.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight on August 2 in the parking lot of Regal Cinemas at Tapo Canyon Road, according to the Ventura County District Prosecutor’s Office. The authorities said adolescents assaulted at least three victims. Two of the teenagers are also charged in a separate altercation in the same lot on May 30.
The suspects include three 17 -year -old and two 16 -year -old young people. Their names have not been released because they are minors.
One of the victims, Michael Robinson, 18, told Ktla that the attack was racially motivated. He said he was enjoying one night with friends when a group of poisoned teenagers began to harass one of his teammates, with whom they had previous problems. The situation intensified quickly.
“First they hit one of my friends on the face,” Robinson said. “Then they hit another. Then they hastened me while I was between two cars. I managed to go out and ran to the parking lot. It was then that they hit me on the hood of a car and they jumped me.”
The cell phone video captured by a witness shows Robinson being persecuted, beaten and supposedly subjected to racial insults
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Images of an altercation between a group of young people and a victim are shown. The victim, who held a chair in self -defense, was surrounded by the group, which was throwing blasphemies. The victim escaped, but his assailants persecuted and began hitting him in an outdoor area.
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The video that circulates on social networks that has been obtained by KTLA shows the moment when a night assault broke out near a movie theater in Simi Valley on August 2, 2025.
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Michael Robsinon, 18, talks to Ktla on August 5, 2025, after he said he was violently attacked by a group of minors in a racially motivated attack outside a Simi Valley movie theater. (Ktla)
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The video that circulates on social networks that has been obtained by KTLA shows the moment when a night assault broke out near a movie theater in Simi Valley on August 2, 2025.
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The video that circulates on social networks that has been obtained by KTLA shows the moment when a night assault broke out near a movie theater in Simi Valley on August 2, 2025.
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One of the three videos included in the publication (which also contained a slide of images of some of the alleged suspects) shows one of the adolescents in the vicinity at that time leaning coincidentally against a squad car of the Simi Valley Police Department just next to the officers.
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During a meeting of the City Council of the Simi Valley on August 4, 2025, residents requested justice and that suspects must be responsible for their actions in what they say is a racially motivated hate crime attack. (Ktla)
Robinson said he tried to flee, then tried to defend himself with a chair while the group surrounded him and threw blasphemies.
“They still caught me, and when they caught me, they decided that they were going to put my head on the garbage can and proceeded to hit me on the back of my head,” Robinson said.
The attack left Robinson with a brain commotion, cuts, bruises and an chipped tooth. He said he didn’t know any of the assailants. After Robinson and his mother reported the attack, a criminal investigation was launched.
Four of the teenagers were arrested on August 3. A fifth suspect was identified later. One of the teenagers is the son of a Simi Valley police officer, according to the department, who said the officer is not involved in the investigation.
On October 3, the District Prosecutor’s Office announced charges against the five minors:
Three teenagers were accused of assault of serious crime that probably produces a great body injury, with a special accusation of a crime of hate. A teenager faces the same position of aggression for serious crime, along with criminal threats and batteries of minor crimes. The fifth teenager was accused of minor crimes of criminal threats and aggression for minor crimes.
“Hate crimes spread fear, division and violence in an entire community,” said District Prosecutor Erik Nasarenko in a statement. “Our office undertakes to hold these young people responsible and ensure that justice is delivered for the victims and our community.”
The five teenagers are scheduled to be prosecuted on October 10 at the Ventura County Youth Center in Oxnard.
Morgan Ball, Vivian Chow, Angelique Brenos and Will Conybeare contributed to this report.
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(Tagstotranslate) Michael Robinson (T) Ktla (T) Simi Valley (T) Film cinema (T) Hate Crys (T) Simi Valley Police Department (T) Regal Cinemas
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