Gang Member Arrested in Stabbing of Boy

WINNETKA —  A 21-year-old Canoga Park gang member was booked on suspicion of attempted murder Thursday after he allegedly stabbed a 16-year-old boy working as a paper-deliverer in his neighborhood, police said.

The Winnetka boy, who was stabbed in the stomach, was released from an area hospital Thursday.

Anibal Rosales allegedly approached the boy, whose name was not released because of his age, at about 11 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Cohasset Street and Oso Avenue in Winnetka, said Det. Bruno Pabon of LAPD’s West Valley CRASH Unit.

The boy, who was delivering advertising fliers door-to-door on one side of the street with another 16-year-old boy on the other side, had been dropped off in the neighborhood by an adult for his part-time job, Pabon said.

The attacker, who was with another youth, asked the boy, “Where are you from?” Pabon said.

The boy, who police said isn’t in a gang, replied: “We’re not from anywhere.” But the assailant pulled out a knife and stabbed the boy anyway, Pabon said.

“There are some gangs that are very territorial,” Pabon said. “The kid was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Witnesses at the scene called police, and officers quickly caught the suspect after searching the area, said Officer Charles Rodriguez, a spokesman for the LAPD.

Police are looking for the youth seen with the attacker at the time of the stabbing. He is described as a Latino, about 6 feet tall and 160 pounds, between 16 and 19 years old, wearing a brown plaid shirt and white pants.

Rosales is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Van Nuys jail.