The gang rape and beating of a 15-year-old girl on school grounds after her homecoming dance was horrific enough. During the next two hours, as many as two dozen people may have witnessed the rapes or been aware of what was happening, but didn't report it, police said. Ortega, 19, is charged with rape, robbery and kidnapping in connection with the assault of a 15-year-old girl... (Associated Press) 
 
 The picnic area at Richmond High School in Richmond, Calif. where police said a 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped and beaten Saturday night, Oct. 24, 2009, is pictured on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. Officers found the girl semiconscious and naked from the waist down near a picnic table. Officers were finally alerted by a woman "who was several blocks away who heard people discussing what was occurring" at the school on 23rd Street and called police, police Lt. Mark Gagan said. The first suspect arrested, Manuel Ortega, 19, who dropped out of Richmond High in 2007, was arrested as he ran from the scene of the attack at the school about midnight Saturday, police said. The youth was arrested Monday and booked on suspicion of sexual assault at Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall in Martinez. Late Tuesday, SWAT teams were preparing to make more arrests as police are also offering a $20,000 reward they hope will bring more people forward with any information. The attack occurred in a city that has dealt with its share of vicious crimes in recent years, and the school recently approved surveillance cameras after a series of violent crimes. In one case a few years back, a student was shot outside the school, ran inside and died in the then-principal's hands, said Marin Trujillo, a spokesman for the West Contra Costa Unified School District. The attack began when someone in the group invited the girl to join in a drinking session after she left Richmond High's homecoming dance early about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, police said. The girl had consumed a large amount of alcohol by the time the assault began, police said.
– San Francisco-area cops have arrested three more young men in the savage gang rape, beating, and robbery of a 15-year-old girl outside her homecoming dance while dozens more watched. Five youths are being held, ranging from a 15-year-old boy who knew the victim to a 21-year-old. The girl was drinking outside the dance Saturday night, reports the San Francisco Chronicle, and the group turned on her when she became drunk. Charges are expected today. "This was a barbaric act. I still cannot get my head around the fact that numerous people either watched, walked away or participated in her assault," a Richmond cop tells the AP. "It's one of the most disturbing crimes in my 15 years as a police officer." Some students began transferring out of the school. "It's not safe there at all," said a 16-year-old girl. "I'm not going back."