San Mateo Teens Plead No Contest to Assault Charges

By Bay City News Service:

Two San Mateo residents pleaded no contest Monday to assault charges in connection with a September robbery and assault, San Mateo County prosecutors said Tuesday.

Cristian Zarco, 18, and Rafael Morales, 19, appeared in San Mateo County Superior Court Monday and pleaded no contest to felony assault with an enhancement for infliction of great bodily injury in connection with the Sept. 6, 2014 attack, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the victim was walking home around 2 a.m. and cut through the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, located at East Santa Inez Avenue and North Eldorado Street, in San Mateo.

The defendants approached him, saying they were Norteno gang members and hated Surenos. When the victim said he was not a gang member, they reportedly made him drink from a bottle of alcohol and then grabbed him and began beating him, prosecutors said.

The victim was beaten to unconsciousness and suffered injuries to his face and head, prosecutors said.

A passerby who saw the attack called police, who found Zarco nearby with the victim’s backpack. A warrant search of Morales’ home turned up the victim’s cellphone and bloody clothing, prosecutors said.

Zarco, who was 17-years-old at the time of the attack, was charged as an adult in the case.

Both he and Morales face a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison, based on the terms of their plea agreement. They are scheduled to return to court on May 7 for sentencing.

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