Suspects released

Two men arrested Sept. 17 after an alleged attack on laborers at Laguna’s Day Labor Center have been released from jail with no charges filed, District Attorney spokeswoman Susan Schroeder said Thursday.

“They had the constitutional right to an arraignment within two days of their arrest, and we had insufficient evidence to proceed with a case, so they have been released,” Schroeder said. “This is not unusual. We need to determine if it is a fileable case or not.”

Dennis Kaptilniy, 18, of Laguna Beach, and Artem Soloviev, 23, of Laguna Niguel, were arrested Sunday on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and a hate crime after they allegedly assaulted one man at the center and then allegedly drove a vehicle through the site at high speed, injuring two others and causing property damage.

Witnesses told police the pair used racial epithets during the incident.

“We will continue with the investigation,” Schroeder said. “Not every witness has been interviewed.”

The pair had been scheduled for a court appearance on Sept. 19. Bail for each had been set at $500,000.

Laguna Beach Police Det. Sgt. Darin Lenyi said his department is working with the district attorney to fill any holes in the case.

“Cases sometimes get sent back for further investigation, after they [the district attorney’s office] looks at the cases from a legal perspective,” Lenyi said.

Labor center Coordinator David Peck, of the Cross-Cultural Council, said he hopes the investigation will proceed.

“It doesn’t sound like they [investigators] have gotten the full story,” Peck said.

He said he doesn’t think the laborers would be reluctant to cooperate with authorities in the investigation.

“I’ve taken workers down to the Laguna Beach police department half a dozen times to file complaints,” Peck said.

The incident began at 9:12 a.m. last Sunday, when the two suspects drove into the labor center in a Toyota Corolla, and spoke with one man, apparently seeking to hire him, Lenyi said.

The center is officially closed on Sundays, but 10 to 15 people typically gather there seeking work, Peck said.

When the laborer declined the job, a confrontation and a physical fight ensued, during which the laborer was punched in the face, Lenyi said. The two suspects then left in their car, police said.

The suspects returned shortly thereafter, with Soloviev at the wheel, and allegedly sped through the center, hitting two people and causing minor injuries, knocking down a tree, and damaging a fence and a bench, Lenyi said.

The suspects also allegedly shouted racial epithets during the attack.

The suspects drove through the center “a few times, trying to hit people and intentionally trying to run people over,” Lenyi alleged.

Jail records listed Soloviev’s occupation as “import-export”, and Kaptilniy’s as “customer service.”

Both claim to be U.S. citizens, Lenyi said.

Labor Center coordinator Irma Ronses — who was not present on the day of the alleged rampage because the center was officially closed — said she was told the two had approached a laborer and offered a week’s employment, but reportedly told the laborer he would have to wait until the end of the job to get paid.

“They wanted him to wait a week for his pay, but these workers are paid daily,” Ronses claimed.

Peck called the destruction at the center “incredible,” and said that the City of Laguna Beach — which leases the property from Caltrans — will be responsible for repairing the damage.

Peck initially believed the suspects may have deliberately targeted the center due to the controversy over the operation there — which has been the target of numerous protests by the Minuteman Project, an anti-illegal immigration group — but has since changed his mind.

“There is no indication they are connected to the Minutemen, but the Minutemen have created a culture of violence against day laborers,” Peck said.

“This is the first time something like this has happened. We’re concerned about it and hope it is an isolated incident.”

Peck said that the fact there was no intermediary on Sunday could have been a factor in the disagreement.

“If they had come on Monday through Saturday, it would not have happened because someone would have stopped them,” Peck said.

When the center is staffed, the laborers do not speak directly with parties seeking to hire them, Peck noted.

He said that there is no plan for extra security measures at the center due to the incident.

There have been no organized protests at the center for a month or more, Peck said.

Jim Gilchrist, head of the Minuteman Project, said he has determined the two alleged assailants were not part of his group.

“As far as we know, they are not Minutemen. We could not find those names in our database,” Gilchrist said.

“They sound like disgruntled illegal alien employers. You don’t go around trying to hurt people to make a point.”

Gilchrist said he would not comment on the fact that the labor center was not officially in operation during the incident.

After Sunday’s incident, the labor center opened as usual at 6 a.m. Monday.

Ronses said that her records showed no fall-off of labor-seekers from the day before the incident to the day after.