Oct 19, 2009 6:25 pm US/Pacific
SF Muni Bus Beating Suspect Pleads Not Guilty
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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Beating victim Christopher Borgzinner.
CBS
A man accused of badly beating a teenage actor on a San Francisco Municipal Railway bus two weeks ago pleaded not guilty Monday to felony assault and robbery charges.
Prosecutors said 18-year-old Uluao Mase was carrying a loaded gun when he and three others beat 18-year-old Christopher Borgzinner and stole his wallet and iPod on Oct. 5.
Two others suspects, ages 15 and 16, were also in custody. Police credited the arrests to surveillance footage taken from a video camera on the bus, and added that they were seeking a fourth suspect.
Police said Borgzinner was en route to an acting class on a 9-San Bruno bus when the suspects asked him if his red sneakers meant he was in a gang.
Despite replying no, police said the suspects pummeled Borgzinner who sustained fractures under both eyes.
Borgzinner, a San Francisco resident, has no gang affiliation, police said.
However, Borgzinner plays a gang member in "La Mission," a new film starring Benjamin Bratt and directed by Bratt's brother Peter Bratt. The film was shot in San Francisco's Mission District.
Mase pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday to charges of robbery, assault and possession of an assault weapon -- a gun that was found in his backpack but was apparently not used in the alleged crime.
Mase remained held on $200,000 bail and his preliminary hearing in the case was scheduled for Nov. 2.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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