Two Men Accused of Shooting at Sheriff's Deputies in San Jacinto

By City News Service:

Two men in their 20s were in custody Wednesday on suspicion of attempted murder for allegedly shooting at a police officer.

Andre Sanchez, 22, and David Moreno, 21, were arrested for firing at a San Jacinto Police Department vehicle during a pursuit Monday night, Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Manning said.

The pursuit began around 11:50 p.m. Monday near the Soboba Indian Reservation when a San Jacinto officer recognized a vehicle whose occupants had fired at a victim around 10:30 p.m. near the intersection of the Ramona Expressway and Lincoln Road in an unincorporated area around Hemet.

The vehicle, a red Dodge pickup truck, sped away from the San Jacinto officer, firing at his vehicle from a rear window as it did so, Manning said, adding that neither the vehicle nor the officer were hit.

The occupants of the Dodge abandoned the vehicle and fled into the reservation, where they were driven away by a resident in the 43000 block of Castile Canyon Road, Manning said. That vehicle was soon abandoned and the suspects fled into a residential neighborhood.

The suspects were found a short time later, Manning said. They were arrested on South Jordan Street in San Jacinto around 1 a.m. Tuesday, according to Riverside County inmate records. Manning described one of the suspects as a person of interest in an incident in which a carjacking suspect fired repeatedly at a patrol vehicle driver by a San Jacinto officer who was pursuing him Saturday night.

The patrol vehicle was immobilized by four gunshots and the suspect fled the scene after his vehicle struck a house, Manning said. The San Jacinto officer was not injured but was examined at a hospital, he said.

Sanchez was booked on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer, violation of state parole, and gang membership, according to jail records. He was being held without bail and scheduled to appear in court in Banning Thursday morning.

Booking details regarding Moreno were not immediately available.

(Images courtesy: Riverside County Sheriff’s Department)