Teenage girls accused of hate crime after racially charged incidents at mallFree Access

Group accosted group of Black girls, called them the N-word, police say


Four girls, ages 13 to 15, have been arrested on suspicion of a hate crime after they allegedly called a group of Black girls the N-word and stole from them at Janss Marketplace on Sunday.

The victims, all of whom live in Camarillo, were between the ages of 7 and 11.

“Everybody is really young,” Thousand Oaks Police Chief Jeremy Paris told the Acorn.

According to police, the confrontation happened around 6 p.m. Sept. 19 inside Defy (formerly DojoBoom), an indoor trampoline park. The four suspects—two who are Hispanic, one who is Caucasian and one who is biracial, Paris said—allegedly went up to the four victims, made derogatory comments about their ethnicity and stole a pair of their shoes.

There had been some confrontation between the two groups resulting in the four girls being asked to leave the facility.

“They were upset the victims told on them and the suspects grabbed the shoes on the way out,” Sgt. Tim Lohman said. “The stealing of the shoes was just another way to cause an issue between the groups.”

After leaving the trampoline park, the four girls broke into a vacant business at the mall, stole a pair of fire extinguishers and used them to write racial epitaphs on the wall, including the N-word but also terms that are derogatory toward Hispanics, police said.

“What’s interesting is not only did they choose to write something derogatory about the victims’ race, but they wrote something that was derogatory toward Hispanic people,” Lohman said.

It may indicate the minors did not understand what the words mean or how they might affect others, the sergeant said.

“Really juvenile stuff, but it’s a hate crime,” Paris said.

If a violent or property crime, which can include theft, assault or vandalism, is motivated by a person’s bias against a person’s race, it is a hate crime, Lohman said.

“When we take a report like this—meaning they’re writing comments about a specific race—we have to take them as a serious offense,” Lohman said. “The district attorney’s office will decide what to do from there.”

The suspects, three from Thousand Oaks and one from Pacoima, were quickly identified but tried to run when deputies approached them, police said. They were caught after a short foot pursuit, cited and released to their parents.

They’re facing charges of theft, vandalism and violating a person’s civil rights (hate crime).

“Their parents were mortified,” Paris said.

This story was updated at 3:10 p.m. Sept. 23.