A probationer accused of attacking several people with rocks in La Quinta, including two sheriff’s deputies — before one of the deputies shot him — must stand trial on attempted murder, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Christopher Curci, 25, of La Quinta is charged with three counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and one count each of burglary and criminal threats stemming from the alleged events last January.
After a preliminary hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Otis Sterling found prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to warrant a trial on all charges in the case.
Curci, who is due back in court on Sept. 16 for a post-preliminary hearing arraignment, remains in custody on $1 million bail.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Jason Trudeau testified Wednesday that sheriff’s deputies were sent on Jan. 16, 2019, to a home in the 77300 block of Avenida Montezuma regarding a burglary and vandalism incident reported earlier that day.
In a recorded interview involving Trudeau and Curci played during the preliminary hearing, the defendant appears to admit to breaking into the house earlier that day as “payback” for the homeowner’s family allegedly previously burglarizing his home.
“I went over there to confront him, and maybe even beat him up,” Curci says in the recording.
He allegedly broke a few windows, a PS4 gaming system and a television before departing and then returning to the home later in the day when the sheriff’s deputies were on scene, which is when the alleged assaults happened.
After returning to the home, Curci allegedly hit two men with rocks. He contended in the interview with Trudeau that he only intended to hit one of the men, and that the other, identified only as an elderly man by Curci, was mistakenly caught in the crossfire.
Prosecutors allege the defendant then began throwing rocks at the deputies, although in the recorded interview, Curci refuted the allegations, saying he was instead aiming for someone near the deputies.
“I had no intent on harming them,” he said of the deputies.
Curci allegedly ignored commands to stop throwing the rocks, and continued walking towards the deputies, which is when he was shot twice in the stomach area.
Judge Emily Benjamini last year ruled Curci was mentally competent to stand trial in the case, following a request by Curci’s defense attorney that he undergo a mental health evaluation.
Curci was serving a three-year probation term at the time of his arrest stemming from a misdemeanor resisting arrest conviction from 2017, court records show.
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