Convicted Felons, Ricardo Jose Gonzalez, 22, of Riverside and Megan Alice Schuchman, 40, Charged
EL CERRITO (CNS) – A pair of convicted felons accused of breaking into an El Cerrito home, pistol-whipping and holding up the occupants, were charged Wednesday with armed robbery and other offenses.
Ricardo Jose Gonzalez, 22, of Riverside and Megan Alice Schuchman, 40, of Corona were arrested Friday following a week-long Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into the home invasion.
Along with robbery, the defendants are both charged with burglary and conspiracy, while Gonzalez alone is charged with firearm assault, being a felon in possession of a loaded gun and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a firearm during a felony. Schuchman is separately charged with possession of controlled substances and possession of drug paraphernalia.
They were slated to make a joint initial court appearance Wednesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Gonzalez is being held in lieu of $155,000 bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, and his co-defendant is being held on $30,000 bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
According to sheriff’s Lt. Albert Martinez, the pair forced their way into a house in the 19000 block of Consul Avenue, near Grandview Street, on the afternoon of Jan. 3 and assaulted the two occupants, whose identities were not disclosed. Gonzalez used his handgun to beat them, inflicting minor injuries, Martinez alleged.
He said after stealing various items, the defendants fled, and the victims immediately called 911. Neither required hospital treatment, the lieutenant said.
Detectives spent the ensuing days working to identify the alleged perpetrators, identifying Gonzalez and Schuchman, culminating in arrest warrants being served on them Friday. Schuchman was taken into custody without incident in Nuevo, and Gonzalez was arrested uneventfully in San Jacinto.
He has documented prior convictions for identity theft, gang activity and being a felon with a gun. Schuchman has priors for identity theft, forgery and possession of controlled substances.
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