Police Chief Confirms Felony Charges Against Two Juveniles in E-bike Assault; Five More Under Investigation

Chief Phillips provides update on November 21st beating as community demands accountability

Police Chief Landon Phillips delivered an update to the City Council Monday night on the November 21st assault near 11th Street and Beach Drive that left a 56-year-old resident unconscious, confirming that the District Attorney has filed felony charges against two of the seven juveniles now identified in the attack.

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"On Wednesday, November 26th, we arrested two juveniles for the assault incident, and those juveniles were transported to Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Facility," Phillips told the Council. "And as of today, the district attorney has filed charges on those two juveniles."

The Chief disclosed that the investigation has expanded beyond initial reports.

"Initially, we reported that there were five juveniles involved, so the one victim, five juveniles. In fact, there's actually seven, and all of those subjects have been identified."

Phillips also addressed rumors circulating in the community about the identities of those involved. "We are also aware of some rumors that some of the juveniles involved were related to council members or police officers or police staff, and those are not correct rumors. There's no information to indicate that anybody involved was related to any city officials elected or city staff."

During public comment, resident Elka Worner provided additional details obtained through her professional contacts.

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"I used to cover courts for United Press International in downtown L.A. and reached out to my DA contacts, and here is what I learned," Worner said. "The two suspects have been charged with assault likely to cause great bodily injury, which is a felony."

Worner explained the juvenile court process for residents unfamiliar with how such cases proceed: "When they're arrested, they're taken to Juvenile Hall. The probation department has to bring them to court within 48 hours. At their first hearing, the juvenile judge decides whether they should be released or remain in custody, and that depends on whether they're a threat to themselves or to the community."

She noted that juvenile proceedings are closed to the public, limiting what information can be made available. "Because juvenile proceedings are closed and confidential, we don't know the judge's decision or the current status of these suspects. We know that they've been charged, and a next hearing is scheduled for January 12th."

The adjudication—the juvenile equivalent of a trial—will eventually determine the outcome. "The judge, not a jury, will review the evidence and determine whether the allegations are true," Worner explained. "Because it's all closed to the public, we likely won't know the final outcome. But I'll keep monitoring the case and share whatever information I can share."

Resident Xochitl Boehm commented :

"Our community deserves to feel safe walking to the beach, going downtown, simply living our lives. And I'm asking the city to take this seriously and act now before someone else is harmed. So again, I want to thank everyone who has made huge efforts to investigate what's going on, but I don't want to let up and allow this to just blow over and something happen again and it could be worse."

Resident Xochitl Boehm speaking at Tuesday night's City Council meeting

Investigation Continues

Phillips emphasized that the case remains active, with detectives still conducting follow-up interviews.

"When all of the interviews are complete, our detectives will be presenting the entire case to the district attorney's office to determine if any further criminal charges should be filed against anyone else involved," Phillips said.

He noted that families of all seven juveniles have cooperated with investigators: "All of the parents of all of the involved juveniles throughout this process have been cooperative. They've all been helpful in this investigation."

The Chief thanked residents and businesses for providing video evidence that proved crucial to the investigation, as well as school officials who helped identify the juveniles.

Increased Police Presence Promised

Looking forward, Phillips committed to enhanced enforcement in the downtown and strand areas.

"We will be increasing our presence and enforcement in the downtown and strand areas. We've already stepped up enforcement on a lot of related violations in the last week. We've done several operations, and we will continue to do so," he said.

The Chief also issued guidance to residents who may encounter concerning behavior: "We asked the community to call the police department any time there's groups of individuals harassing, intimidating any innocent members of the community. If anyone observes something, before it escalates into any type of assault, please call the police department. Call 911. We will respond. Even if a crime has not occurred, we will respond."

He advised residents to avoid engaging with groups displaying concerning behavior and instead to contact police.

Phillips also urged the community not to generalize about local youth based on this incident. "We also want to make sure the community knows that we have a lot of great kids in our community, and the fact that this happened involving this group of juveniles, as unfortunate as it is, we really don't want this to result in good kids in our community being blamed or treated differently by the community."

Council Response

Councilmember Dean Francois thanked Phillips for his transparency, particularly his attendance at a community forum she hosted shortly after the incident.

"Although it appeared at first that maybe there was a lack of transparency, I really do appreciate and glad that you came to the community forum that I had held just a week after that incident and took it upon yourself to engage in one-on-one discussions with people that were there," Francois said. "It's very helpful. It goes beyond these formal proceedings like this, and I think it helped a lot for everyone to understand more the police department's perspective, what they're doing to keep us safe, and the limitations that we have."

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Detoy asked Phillips to clarify when residents should call 911 versus the non-emergency line. Phillips responded that 911 is appropriate whenever there's any question of time-sensitivity with an incident.

"If you're even slightly concerned that this is urgent and we need officers, again, just to put eyes on, please call 911," Phillips said. "It's not going to hurt. It's not a misuse of the 911 system."