Seven black teenagers are facing assault and hate crime charges after attacking a Latino youth as he walked home from school

According to investigators, the 15-year old Hispanic victim was approached by a group of up to 10 male black teenagers who challenged him to a fight. "The suspects surrounded the victim and began punching him while several other juveniles watched," according to Deputy Robbie Royster of the L.A. Co. Sheriff's Dept. The victim fell to the ground while trying to defend himself and the black suspects continued to beat him "by punching and kicking him in the face and head," Royster said. The Latino victim was eventually able to get away, but was later hospitalized for multiple head wounds, including shoe impressions left in his skin. The victim is also undergoing surgery to repair several of his teeth which were kicked out during the attack. Detectives were able to identify the African-American attackers from a video of the assault, which was posted to YouTube. The suspects range in age from 13 to 16 years old and were arrested for "assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury and committing a hate crime," Royster said.