Two young men, including the son of a Rolling Hills city councilman, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of beating and robbing a man with autism inside a Rolling Hills Estates mall parking structure -- an attack caught on cellphone video.
Alexander Bell-Wilson of Rolling Hills and Korey Oscar Benjamin Streeter of Long Beach, who are both 18, are charged with one count each of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and second-degree robbery, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
The two allegedly assaulted the 18-year-old victim -- whom they knew --and took his phone, according to Deputy District Attorney Lindsay Kurtis.
The attack occurred March 22 in a parking garage of the Promenade on the Peninsula shopping center.
Cellphone video of the attack showed two men repeatedly punching the victim as he lay on the ground in a fetal position, covering his head from the barrage of blows. One of the men backed away while the other man kicked the motionless victim twice. Seconds later, the first man returned and went through the victim's pockets.
Several bystanders were seen on the video, with at least one other person recording the attack, but no one stepped in to help the victim.
Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies became aware of the video three days later after it was posted on social media.
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Bell-Wilson and Streeter were arrested April 11 and subsequently released. Bell-Wilson remains free on $80,000 bond, while Streeter was ordered to be remanded in lieu of $80,000 bail.
Bell-Wilson is the son of Rolling Hills Councilman Patrick Wilson, who attended the arraignment hearing Wednesday morning but declined to comment to a reporter outside court.
Bill-Wilson and Streeter are due back in a Torrance courtroom June 10, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against them to proceed to trial.
If convicted as charged, Bell-Wilson and Streeter could face up to five years in state prison, according to the District Attorney's Office.
