3 TO BE TRIED IN BEATING TRIO REPORTEDLY ACTED AS GANG MEMBERS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Three reputed street-gang members were ordered Friday to stand trial on charges they beat a Lancaster man who was attacked while picking up his children at a private school.

The man was knocked down and kicked after asking a group of teenage boys and young men to get out of the school driveway, officials said.

``It's typical of the conduct of a gang trying to establish a territory and terrorize a community,'' Deputy District Attorney David Berger said after the hearing. ``It's a senseless crime. There was no point other than to do one thing, which was to try to establish their control over the area.''

In an Antelope Valley Superior Court hearing, Judge Alan Rosenfield found there was enough evidence to warrants trials for Antonio McGee, 25, of Lancaster; Renaldo Mixon, 25 of Lennox; and Kyle Stowers, 18, of Lancaster.

The three have pleaded not guilty to assault, vandalism and making criminal threats. They are charged with committing the crimes to further the interests of a criminal street gang.

A fourth defendant, a 14-year-old Lancaster boy, is being handled in Juvenile Court.

The victim, whose name was not released, was attacked Nov. 21 by several assailants after he got out of his car outside Lancaster Christian School, officials said.

He had picked up his children from school and was driving out of the school parking lot onto Cedar Avenue when eight to 10 males, ranging in age from 10 to 25, blocked the driveway.

The father rolled down his window to ask the group to move, and they responded by kicking his car, officials said. When the man got out, he was knocked down and kicked by several assailants, while others cheered them on.

When the man's 13-year-old daughter got out of the car to plead for the men to stop hitting her father, one assailant punched her in the face and then all of the men fled. The man's 9-year-old son was also in the car and witnessed the attack.

Two defense witnesses called by Mixon's attorney testified that the defendant had an appointment to do exercises at a medical rehabilitation clinic about a half a mile way around the time of the attack.

Mixon was a patient at the clinic for injuries he suffered in a car accident. The clinic's athletic trainer, Jeannette Ross, said she saw Mixon Nov. 21 at the clinic but was unsure of the exact time. He had a 2:30 p.m. appointment, she said.

The attack occurred shortly after 3 p.m.

Berger said two people identified Mixon as being present during the attack.

The assailants are believed to frequent a nearby apartment building where they sell drugs, but none is believed to actually live there, officials said.

Berger said earlier the building offers a prime area for conducting drug sales because drug dealers can see the front of the building from a rear alley and, when a customer pulls up, they head to the front of the building, make their transaction and then retreat into the alley.

Berger has offered the apartment as an example of the need for a proposed city program to assign a special team of deputies to patrol rental units, financed by a tax on rentals.

The City Council voted to charge a licensing fee for rental properties to finance the hiring of four deputies, who would patrol rental properties.

Council members also voted to put on the April 13 municipal election ballot a $25 per parcel annual tax, which would fund 10 more deputies.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com