Reading Eagle | By Jason A. Kahl
City police arrested a 17-year-old Reading boy and charged him as an adult with aggravated assault and related offenses in a shooting and beating in the area of Gordon and West Oley streets.
David Castro of the 500 block of South Court in the Glenside Homes was arraigned Monday before District Judge Gloria W. Stitzel in Reading Central Court. Castro remained in Berks County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail Tuesday.
Castro and an accomplice, known only as "Felo," attacked an unidentified male April 29 about 4:30 a.m., police said.
Police responded to the area after a 9-1-1 caller reported there had been a shooting.
The victim, whose name was not released, was found nearby with a gunshot wound to a leg, head wounds and scrapes. He was treated in Reading Hospital.
The victim told police Castro and Felo pulled up in a gray car, got out and assaulted him.
The victim said Castro pepper-sprayed him in his face and Felo fired three shots at him, police reported.
The victim scrambled over porches to get away and banged on the door of a relative as three more shots were fired.
Castro and Felo followed the victim and got out when they found him on a relative's porch, police said.
Felo pulled a baseball bat out of the trunk and swung it at the victim, knocking him to the ground, police said. The pair continued beating and punching him with brass knuckles until a neighbor came outside and called 9-1-1, police said.
Castro, who was picked out of a lineup, admitted to detectives that he sprayed the victim with pepper spray and chased him, police said.
He also admitted to assaulting the victim, but not with brass knuckles; he said he knew nothing about a shooting, according to police.
Castro was angry that someone had robbed his brother and took his sweater, police reported, and said he attacked the victim because he was wearing a sweater similar to his brother's.
Police and the district attorney's office decided to charge Castro as an adult because of the serious nature of the assault.
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