Muni Beating Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

Another person has pleaded not guilty to badly beating a San Francisco actor who believes he may have been jumped because he was wearing the wrong-colored shoes.

Fagamalama Pasene is one of four people police allege assaulted 18-year-old Christopher Borgzinner as he rode a Muni bus. The thugs also stole Borgzinner's wallet and iPod, police said. Pasene was charged with felony assault and robbery charges.

Authorities say Borgzinner was attacked after the group asked him if the red sneakers he was wearing indicated he was part of a gang. Borgzinner had replied he was not a gang member, but police say the group assaulted him anyway.

The actor plays a gang member in "La Mission," a new film starring Benjamin Bratt. It was not the first time Borgzinner was the victim of violence in the City. In January 2008, gang members attacked him at 16th and Mission streets while he was on the way to a poetry slam, according to the Chronicle.

Pasene is being held on $200,000 bail.