A man who called police in Palm Springs claiming he had been assaulted, and was arrested after being identified as a suspect in a stabbing reported earlier was charged with a felony count of attempted murder Thursday.
Richard Joseph Gonzales, 34, of Cathedral City pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and denied sentence-enhancing allegations of using a weapon during a felony and great bodily injury domestic violence during an arraignment Thursday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, according to inmate records.
The defendant is due back in court for a felony settlement conference on Sept. 23.
Police received a call at around 5:41 a.m. Tuesday from a man in the 400 block of E. Arenas Road, according to a statement from the Palm Springs Police Department.
Officers arrived at the location and found him with what appeared to be “significant injuries consistent with an assault,” police said. The man said he had been stabbed but didn’t identify the suspect, according to police.
He was taken to a hospital and was listed in serious but stable condition.
Hours later, officers received a call from a man in the 100 block of N. Sunrise Way, who said he had been an assault victim Monday night. Police identified him as Gonzales.
Officers later determined Gonzales was a suspect in the earlier stabbing case and arrested him at about 1:40 p.m. on North Indian Canyon Drive, according to the department and inmate records.
He was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio.
