Phillipe Pavia is suspected of various firearm and ammunition possession charges. Photo from the Palm Springs Police Department.
An additional felony gun charge was filed Thursday against an Indio man arrested after a downtown Palm Springs fight that triggered an investigation in which weapons and drugs were seized at his home.
Phillipe Pavia, 39, was arrested, along with Raymond Gomez, 33, in the early morning hours of Nov. 12 after Palm Springs police responded to reports of a fight in the 100 block of South Palm Canyon Drive.
Police located them in the parking lot of the La Plaza Center, where officers saw “an AR-15 assault rifle in plain view on the passenger floorboard” of one of the men’s vehicles, the sergeant said. Both suspects posted bail after being booked into county jail on suspicion of various firearm and ammunition possession charges.
A follow-up investigation by the Riverside County District Attorney Gang Impact Team led investigators to serve to a search warrant at Pavia’s home in the 43600 block of Main Street in Indio, where they seized five more guns, ammunition and 110 grams of cocaine and took him into custody, Hutchinson said.
Pavia was charged last month in connection with the guns and drugs seized at his home, while Thursday’s added charge — possession of a short- barreled rifle or shotgun — involves the AR-15.
The same charge was filed against Gomez, who was not previously charged.
Pavia’s criminal history includes previously being charged in a 2000 Indio murder case, court records show. Another man was convicted of the gang- related killing, and Pavia pleaded guilty in 2001 to being an accessory.
Pavia, who’s being held in lieu of $1 million bail, is slated to be arraigned on the new charges on Monday.
Gomez is due in court later this month.
–City News Service
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