SignOnSanDiego.com – Tony Manolatos and Amy Oakes
3 suspects part of ‘Lowlifes’ group
Police are accusing a 24-year-old man and two teenage boys of sneaking up on six men and beating them ? in five separate attacks ? as they left the San Diego gay pride festival Saturday night in Balboa Park.
The assaults, which officials are calling brutal hate crimes, angered the city’s gay and lesbian community and drew a dogged response from San Diego police.
?People are outraged,? said Sean Wherley, a spokesman for The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center. ?We’re obviously very concerned by the viciousness of the attacks, but we’re heartened by the swift action? by the police.
James Allen Carroll, a convicted felon, was taken into custody Monday night at a San Diego apartment where he was living, police Capt. Chris Ball said. A 17-year-old was arrested yesterday afternoon while walking on Scott Street in Point Loma after picking up his paycheck from a restaurant.
Police have asked prosecutors to charge the 17-year-old as an adult, department spokesman M?nica Mu?oz said. He is being held in Juvenile Hall.
A 16-year-old boy was arrested downtown at 7:10 last night. He was to be booked into Juvenile Hall on suspicion of the same charges as the other teen, police said.
Police have not released the teenagers’ names.
Court records show Carroll, who is being held in the downtown jail pending arraignment tomorrow, pleaded guilty to felony burglary in April in San Diego. He was sentenced to three years’ probation. He was convicted of a similar crime last year in Texas.