4 ARRESTED IN ASSAULT ON SIMI MISSIONARIES.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

Police have arrested a man and three juvenile males suspected of attacking and robbing two local Mormon missionaries.

Simi Valley residents Jason Lewis, 19, and James Byrom, 20, suffered injuries to the face and head during the attack at about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday in the 2900 block of Royal Avenue.

Byrom and Lewis, who suffered a fractured eye socket, were taken to Simi Valley Hospital where they were treated and released.

Arrested were three Simi Valley juveniles, two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old. All three were charged with robbery and felony assault. Two were released to their parents; one was detained in the Ventura County Juvenile Hall.

The fourth suspect, Michael Piper, 20, of Newbury Park, was booked at Ventura County Jail on suspicion of robbery and felony assault.

Simi Valley police Sgt. Bob Gardner, who had received calls from residents concerned that it might have been a hate crime, said the attack was not motivated by religious prejudice.

``The fact that they were Mormons has nothing to do with this,'' he said. ``This was just two kids who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.''

Police said that Lewis and Byrom were bicycling in the area trying to recruit new church members when they came to a locked gate at the north end of the Simi Equestrian Center.

They squeezed through a gate, then lifted their bikes over the fence with the intention of continuing north on Sequoia Avenue.

Lewis and Byrom were then confronted by a man and three male juveniles who asked for money. When they refused, the assailants beat both victims ``with fists, knees and feet,'' according to a police report.