Paul Clinton
Three 14-year-old boys who beat a Filipino shop manager with metal
pipes have admitted to the crime.
The boys, whose identities were not released since they are minors,
pleaded guilty avoiding the trial set to begin on April 15.
Two of they boys admitted guilt the day the trial was to start, the
third followed suit a day later.
On March 9, the three Huntington Beach teenagers assaulted 25-year-old
Aris Gadduang behind the 99 Cent Only Store at Springdale Street and
Edinger Avenue. Gadduang, a Huntington Beach resident, manages the shop.
Taunting him with ethnic slurs, chants of "white power" and a
Nazi-style salute, the boys beat Gadduang with metal pipes, police said.
Gadduang was hit on the arms, neck and head as he worked behind the
store.
Gadduang was not seriously injured in the episode, but extremely
shaken.
The boys were arrested several blocks from the store and taken to
Orange County Juvenile Hall. They were charged with assault and
hate-crime violations, which are both felonies.
In exchange for their guilty plea, the boys were given credit for five
weeks in the hall and put on probation, Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Gary
Meza said. The boys were kept in custody for the entire time between
their arrest and plea.
Following the attack Gadduang said he no longer felt safe here in
Huntington Beach and has transferred to another store.
At the time of the attack, city leaders said they hoped it wasn't a
sign that hate crimes were flaring up again. The city saw a rash of
racially-motivated attacks in the 1980s.
"I felt sick when I heard about it," Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff
said. "We put in so much time and effort to make sure these things don't
happen."
