Three members of a Santa Maria street gang will face trial for allegedly assaulting a rival gang member in downtown San Luis Obispo.

On Oct. 6, 2024, Alex LopezRamirez, 23, Miguel Angel Mendez, 33, and Brian RamirezLopez, 30, acting as a group, allegedly stomped, kicked and punched a man in the middle of the road near Hotel Cerro, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Tuesday. He was later transported to a hospital with severe injuries.

LopezRamirez, Mendez and RamirezLopez were identified as members of the West Park gang from Santa Maria, while the victim was identified as a member of a rival Santa Maria gang, the release said.

“Gang violence has no place in San Luis Obispo County,” District Attorney Dan Dow said in the news release. “This was a brutal group attack that continued even after the victim was unconscious and defenseless in the middle of a public street.”

The alleged West Park gang members are each charged with street terrorism and felony assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury with sentencing allegations for inflicting great bodily injury and committing a crime as a member of a street gang, according to court records.

Combined, the charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each suspect, but Mendez has a prior serious felony conviction for a 2015 robbery that counts as a strike under California’s Three Strikes Law, which means his base sentences could be doubled before adding time for the enhancements. As a result, he could face up to 32 years in prison.

All three men will be held to answer against all charges and enhancements, SLO County Superior Court Judge Michael Duffy ruled. Evidence presented at the preliminary hearing included video of the assault and additional recordings of the defendants made after the assault, the release said.

“Our community is safer when those who bring this kind of violence here are held fully accountable, and this office will continue to pursue that accountability alongside our law enforcement partners,” Dow said in the release.

All three defendants are currently out of custody and are expected back in court for their next hearing on Sept. 17.