Four Attempted Murder Suspects Nabbed Off Interstate 10 In Banning, Police Say [UPDATED]

BANNING, CA -- Banning police assisted other law enforcement officers from the region with the arrest of four attempted murder suspects in town on Friday, Patch has learned. It happened at a Mobil gas station off of Hargrave Street, in between Ramsey Street and Interstate 10, around 11:15 a.m.

Banning Police Chief Alex Diaz tells Patch that an off-duty officer for another agency spotted the men at the local gas station after possibly pulling off Interstate 10 for fuel. They called Banning police to assist with the apprehension of the men.

Initial information from police indicated that there were two men wanted for murder, but we now know that there were four men wanted in connection to the attempted murder of a man at a Cathedral City bar.

Cathedral City police said after the arrest Friday afternoon that the men were wanted for a shooting at The Block Sports Bar & Grill, 68955 Ramon Road, which left a man hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds. The shooting, which occurred just before 11 p.m. Wednesday stemmed from an argument between "two groups of bar patrons," said Cmdr. Paul Herrera. Police had previously released a description of a single shooter sought for the crime.

Patch arrived at the scene in Banning around noon, and spotted a man being put into the back of a Cathedral City police SUV.

In the past year, The Block has also been the site of a fatal beating and a shooting that wounded two men.
Last June, Rolando Rodriguez was beaten outside the bar in an attack that left him comatose. He died in a hospital months later. Three men -- Jorge Tapia, Michael Rios and Andrew Ponce -- are awaiting trial on murder charges in connection with the fatal beating.

In March, two men were hospitalized after being shot in the bar's parking lot. Police arrested Santos Franco and Felipe Arechiga, who were charged with attempted murder.

City News Service contributed to this report