2 Accused of Murder in Suspected Gang Attack

WINNETKA —  Murder charges have been filed against two suspected gang members who allegedly beat and stabbed a Reseda man after he refused a gang challenge to fight one of the men, authorities said Thursday.

Francisco Soria, 19, of Canoga Park and Oscar Saul Garcia, 18, of Woodland Hills have each been charged with one count of murder, said Los Angeles Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert D’ver. Added to Garcia’s charge was the special enhancement of allegedly using a knife during the crime, D’ver said.

Both men will be arraigned Oct. 21 in Van Nuys Superior Court and are being held in lieu of $1 million bail, D’ver said.

Roberto Escobar, 21, of Reseda was fatally stabbed in the chest during a confrontation Oct. 2 in the 8700 block of DeSoto Avenue, said Detective Tom Broad of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Escobar, whom police said was not a gang member, was walking there about 5 p.m. with a 15-year-old Canoga Park resident when Garcia and Soria confronted him and asked: “Where are you from?” a phrase often used by gang members to identify gang affiliation, Broad said.

When Escobar responded that he was from nowhere, meaning he was not in a gang, Soria began punching him, Broad said. When Escobar defended himself, Garcia stabbed him in the chest, Broad said.

“The guy didn’t answer the question the way it was supposed to be answered and Soria starts fighting with him and then his partner comes up and stabs him in the chest,” D’ver said.

“That’s the way gang members operate,” D’ver said. “It’s just an example of what senseless gang violence is all about. I’ve stopped trying to figure it out.”