A 26-year-old man accused of shooting at two pedestrians, wounding one, in a drive-by attack in downtown Riverside stemming from an earlier scuffle, was charged Thursday with attempted murder and other offenses.
Hector Alfonso Sanchez Torres of Home Gardens was arrested Sunday following a Riverside Police Department investigation.
Along with two counts of attempted murder, Torres was charged with firing a gun from a moving vehicle and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail and was slated to make his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to police, in the predawn hours Sunday, the defendant was involved in an unspecified conflict with two men, identified in court documents only as “E.F.” and “E.R.,” near the intersection of University Avenue and Main Street — an area known as the Entertainment District.
After the altercation ended, Torres went to his vehicle and then drove back to where the parties with whom he had fought were walking, police spokesman Officer Ryan Railsback said.
“The suspect drove along University … and shot at the victims before fleeing,” Railsback said.
He said one of the pedestrians was hit in a leg and taken to Riverside Community Hospital for treatment. He was expected to fully recover. The other victim allegedly targeted by the defendant was not hurt.
Officers from the department’s Metro Team followed up leads pointing to Torres as the alleged shooter, according to Railsback. The defendant was located and taken into custody without incident at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, roughly eight hours after the alleged shooting, at a property on Windsong Street in Home Gardens.
Torres has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.