Menifee teen arrested after group in Highland Street takeover attacks sheriff's car – San Bernardino Sun

San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies arrested a 15-year-old from Menifee who they say grabbed the door of a sheriff's patrol vehicle and used a cell phone to smash its windshield following a street takeover in Highland earlier this month.

The teen was among a group of youths who surrounded the sheriff's cruiser at Victoria and Highland avenues on Saturday, May 11 after drivers took over the nearby intersection, opening a fire hydrant to return the slippery street and help them perform stunts, sheriff's officials said. said in a statement.

The confrontation between the group and the deputy, filmed on cellphone, shows a dozen spectators at the takeover spot the cruiser and approach it.

After someone in the crowd yelled to jump on the vehicle, several people jumped on the hood. Others kicked the doors or banged on the windshield.

Officials with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said the teen they later arrested was part of that group.

A department spokeswoman said investigators determined the teen was holding a cellphone in his hand at the time; they accused the teen of using the phone to slam the windshield, leaving it with a large crack.

Videos and photos released by the department show other people kicking the vehicle left large dents on the door.

Officials said the video also showed the arrested teen, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, grabbing the driver's side door handle of the patrol car. The door opens for approximately three seconds before closing. The deputy then leaves.

The department said the teen accused of grabbing the door was identified through video obtained by investigators. Deputies executed a search warrant at his Menifee home on Thursday, May 23 and arrested him.

In a statement, officials said the teen was booked into San Bernardino County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of attempted carjacking and felony vandalism.

The department accused the teen of “attempting to overtake the deputy and his patrol unit.”

But according to the video of the incident released by officials, it is not clear who opened the door.

The video shows one of the group members, dressed in a gray hoodie, putting his hand behind another person's back, then pushing the other person forward, helping them jump and kick the vehicle window.

After removing his hand from the other person's back, the person in the gray sweater appears to reach for the driver's side door handle of the patrol car. But they quickly become obscure as others swarm the cruiser.

When the door becomes visible again, the video shows that it has been opened. However, at this point in the video, the person who was trying to open the door backed away.

The department said in a statement that the deputy inside the vehicle closed the door. But the video shows another person in the crowd putting their hand on the door and appearing to close it. It was unclear if the deputy closed it at the same time.

The Sheriff's Department has not identified the arrested teen and it is unclear whether he has been charged with a crime.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said the juveniles' criminal records are confidential. In keeping with that policy, she declined to say whether the prosecutor was pursuing criminal proceedings against the boy.

It was not clear whether the child had been provided with a lawyer or was still in custody.