Cabazon Man Pleads Not Guilty To Assaulting Mother

A Cabazon man accused of attacking his own mother and holding her against her will pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of assault, false imprisonment and dissuading a witness. Richard Diaz, 31, was arrested following the incident last month.

Diaz, who was originally being held on $1 million bail, is now out of custody after that bail was reduced to $24,000 and he posted it, records show.

Diaz arrested March 20 following the alleged assault that took place in the 14000 block of Marino Street.

Diaz's mother — referred to only as Jane Doe in court documents — went to the Cabazon sheriff's station at 9:42 a.m. to allege that her son had assaulted her, sheriff's Sgt. John Carlberg said.

"The investigation revealed she had been held against her will and assaulted," said Carlberg.

Diaz was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, but prosecutors filed a lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon against him, along with the false imprisonment count. The deadly weapon was the defendant's hands, according to the criminal complaint. Prosecutors amended the charges Tuesday to assault on a person causing great bodily injury and added a felony count of dissuading a witness.

Diaz was released from custody on March 24 on $25,000 bail. He's slated to return to court on May 8 for a felony settlement conference.

— City News Service contributed to this report / Image via Riverside County Sheriff's Department