Three teens sentenced for August assault with hate crime enhancements

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (KEYT) – Three teens have been sentenced in connection with an August assault at the Simi Valley Regional Cinema that included felony hate crime allegations.

In late October, two of the original five teens taken into custody in connection with the assault admitted to their charges.

On Nov. 13, the pair were each sentenced to serve a total of 240 days, 210 days in a juvenile detention facility and 30 days on electronic monitoring detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office in a press release Friday.

A third teen charged with felony assault and a hate crime was sentenced to 270 days, 240 days in the locked Juvenile Facility and 30 days of electronic monitoring on Nov. 19 shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

All three were ordered to participate in the Harm to Healing Restorative Justice Program and a Anti-Defamation League program added the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Each of the teens facing hate crime charges were also ordered to remain in custody during the court proceedings as requested by prosecutors.

"Hate crimes will not be tolerated in Ventura County," said Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. "We sought justice for our victims and accountability for the offenders that reflected the seriousness of these crimes. Multiple months of custody in a locked Juvenile Facility underscores the seriousness of their crimes."

The two remaining teens who were involved in the case, but were not charged with a hate crime are currently scheduled for a continued arraignment on Nov. 21 and Dec. 3 of this year noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Four of the involved teens voluntarily turned themselves in to Simi Valley Police before a fifth was arrested during the investigation.

Due to the ages of all five of the involved minors, three 17-year-olds and two 16-year-olds, their names are not being released by authorities at this point in the criminal proceedings explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office when they were taken into custody in early October.

The August incident made national headlines as it was caught on camera and involved the son of a Simi Valley Police Officer.

The officer was put on leave while detectives investigated the assault noted the Simi Valley Police Department in October.

On Aug. 1, 2025, five juveniles approached a group of teens in the Simi Valley Regal Cinema parking lot and an argument escalated into multiple assaults against three victims explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

One of the victims was punched in the jaw and another was pushed to the ground and stomped on detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, the third victim was chased, surrounded, and repeatedly punched while the assailants used racial slurs and the attacks continued as the victim ran to the theatre's food court where he was surrounded and beaten further including having his head shoved into the ground and a trash can.

"Based on the facts of this case, including the violence used and the bias-motivated nature of the
attacks, we sought detention and significant rehabilitative consequences for the three minors
charged with hate crimes," explained Senior Deputy District Attorney Maureen Byrne, who supervises
the Juvenile Unit. "These sentences reflect the seriousness of their conduct and the harm inflicted
on the victims and the community."

Two of the minors involved in the August assault are also connected to a criminal threat at the Regal Cinema food court on May 30, 2025, added the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.