Thread: D.A. Delays Decision On Filing In Laborer Attack

Sep 20, 2006 4:04 pm US/Pacific
D.A. Delays Decision On Filing In Laborer Attack

(CBS) LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. Prosecutors have delayed a decision on whether to file charges against two young men arrested for allegedly assaulting several day laborers at a Laguna Beach hiring center, an official said Wednesday.

"We sent it (the case) back for further investigation," said Susan Schroeder of the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

Artem Soloviev, 23, and Dennis Kaptilniy, 18, were arrested Sunday and booked at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and a hate crime, police said.

The delay in filing charges meant the pair were released from jail.

Prosecutors normally have 48 hours, or two court days, to file charges if arrestees do not post bail and remain behind bars, Schroeder said.

If no charges are filed within that time, arrestees are released and an arrest warrant is issued if and when charges are filed, Schroeder said.

Additional investigation can take weeks, but at the maximum, prosecutors have as long as a crime's statute of limitations, which is about three years for many felonies, Schroeder said.

Soloviev and Kaptilniy allegedly assaulted several day laborers at a hiring center and then plowed their car through the parking lot of the Day Labor Hiring Site at 1690 Laguna Canyon Road, hitting two workers while shouting
racial insults, police said.

Several people called Laguna Beach police around 9:12 a.m. to report the men driving the black Toyota, police said.

Witnesses said the men pulled into the hiring center parking lot and tried to hire a worker. When the worker rejected the terms of the job, he and a friend were allegedly assaulted by Soloviev and Kaptilniy, police said.

The suspects then fled the scene, only to return moments later speeding through the area. Witnesses were forced to jump out of the vehicle's path as the suspects continued to circle the parking lot, striking two workers as well
as metal lunch tables and a chain-link fence.

The initial assault victim was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Day laborers and their supporters gathered at the center Tuesday to denounce the alleged attack.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to th

Day laborers and their supporters gathered at the center Tuesday to denounce the alleged attack.

While I don't agree with the obvious hate crime, I am left wondering why these havens for illegal immigrants are allowed to exist. Everyone at a labor center should have their eligibility for employment checked before allowing a business or local to hire them. In other words, their legal status should be checked because employers are NOT ALLOWED to hire illegal immigrants. It is not discrimination if you check everyone that arrives at the center - make it a matter of policy. Actually, our United States Congress should make it a matter of law since these labor centers are illegal immigrant gathering points throughout the country.