SIMI VALLEY : Gang Member Jailed in Assault on Youth

A Simi Valley gang member has been arrested in the bludgeoning of a 15-year-old boy in an apparent pay-back attack for the fatal shooting of a fellow gang member earlier this month, police said Friday.

Chalermpol Kaewdee, 18, was booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after he and two suspected gang members assaulted the boy, Sgt. Mike King said.

The attack began just after 2:30 p.m. Thursday as the 15-year-old boy, a Sinaloa Junior High student, was walking on 4th Street near Royal Avenue. Two unidentified people attacked him from behind, King said.

As the boy fought the two, King said, Kaewdee hopped out of a passing car with an aluminum baseball bat, ran up to the boy and hit him several times on the head and upper body. The boy, whom police have not identified, suffered bruises to his head, back and leg, King said.

Off-duty Simi Valley Police Officer Ken Brown happened by and broke up the attack, and the suspects fled, King said.

Six hours later, officers of the Special Enforcement Section arrested Kaewdee on suspicion of deadly assault.

During questioning, King said Kaewdee told detectives that the attack on the boy--who police say is an associate of a rival gang--was in retaliation for the April 1 slaying of Kaewdee’s fellow gang member, Armando Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, 19, got into an argument and exchanged gang hand signals with a bicyclist, Victor Gabriel Ramirez, as the two met on 1st Street, police said. Ramirez was arrested on suspicion of murder after Rodriguez was fatally shot once in the chest, police said.

Kaewdee was being held Friday evening at Ventura County Jail in Ventura in lieu of $20,000 bail.