Man Pleads Not Guilty in Attack Probed as Possible Hate Crime

LAGUNA NIGUEL — A Huntington Beach man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to assault charges stemming from an attack on a black teen-ager whose beating is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Derek Thomas Jones, 20, remained in Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana on $100,000 bail after being charged with assault with a deadly weapon and attempting to dissuade a witness from testifying, authorities said.

Meanwhile, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said a third suspect has been arrested in connection with the Aug. 5 beating of Ruben Charles Vaughn, 15, of Tustin, and a white friend.

Vaughn, who suffered a broken jaw and several puncture wounds, has been released from a hospital.

Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Garner said a 17-year-old Lake Forest boy turned himself in to deputies Monday morning in connection with the incident. Another juvenile had been arrested earlier.

Vaughn, a well-liked student and standout football player at Santa Margarita High School, was beaten and stabbed with an unknown weapon, and his friend was punched and attacked with pepper spray after they showed up in Portola Hills for a party attended by about 30 people. Vaughn’s stepfather has said Vaughn was lured there for the beating.

Someone shouted a racial slur during the attack, authorities said, and investigators are trying to determine if the assault was racially motivated.