$144,000 awarded to victim of Simi racial beating

A judge has awarded $144,000 in damages to an African American teenager beaten by four white youths while selling newspaper subscriptions in a Simi Valley shopping center two years ago.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Steven Hintz found that the three defendants in the civil case “participated in a racially motivated and unprovoked beating” of Jimmy King of Reseda. He was 17 when the incident took place in December 2004.

A fourth youth who pleaded guilty in the criminal case previously agreed in an out-of-court civil settlement to pay $25,000, said King’s lawyer, Stephen A. Rodriguez Sr.

Authorities said the four white youths, all teenagers, shouted racial epithets at King, chased him, and then kicked and punched him when he fell to the ground. The four served terms of eight or nine months in juvenile facilities in connection with the attack.

The damages awarded by Hintz consisted mainly of $92,000 for pain and suffering, $40,000 for future medical expenses and $10,000 in punitive damages, which the judge said was based on the defendants’ “despicable conduct.”