Highland Park Teens Arrested in Drive-By Shooting

Los Angeles Police Department Officers arrested two local teens last Friday, June 1, on charges that they fired gunshots into a house party near 5600 Meridian Street.

Jay Castillo, 18, and a 16-year-old juvenile were arrested by LAPD Gang Unit Officers at around 11:30 p.m. and later charged with shooting into an uninhabited dwelling and shooting from a moving vehicle, according to Detective Rick Ortiz.

Nobody was injured.

Det. Ortiz said LAPD officers were originally called to the 5600 block of Meridian Street on Friday night to break up a loud "gang party."

While on the scene, officers noticed a dark colored vehicle with the lights out drive by the house, Ortiz said. Moments later, while officers were regrouping in a nearby parking lot, they heard shots fired from the vicinity of the house party.

"The officers tracked down the blacked out vehicle with no lights on and pulled it over. They noticed a juvenile attempting to crouch down in the back seat and the seat cushion disturbed. They checked under the seat and found a revolver."

Ortiz said both Castillo and the juvenile are both believed to be affiliated with a local gang. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for later in June.