Deadly Attack in Shopping Center
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – A man accused of gunning down a Perris resident in a shopping center parking lot, then leading law enforcement officers on a chase through the San Jacinto Valley, pleaded not guilty Monday to first-degree murder.
Ernesto Lopez Jr. of Moreno Valley was arrested in June following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into the slaying of Mark Anthony Carrasco.
Along with murder, Lopez is charged with felony evading and sentence- enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
He was arraigned Monday before Superior Court Judge Gary Polk, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Oct. 3 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Lopez is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Jarred Bishop, shortly after midnight on June 23, Lopez and Carrasco were involved in an unspecified confrontation in the parking lot fronting a strip mall in the area of North Perris Boulevard and East Nuevo Road in Perris.
During the encounter, the defendant pulled a gun and shot the victim, Bishop alleged.
Witnesses called 911, and patrol deputies converged on the location moments later, attempting life-saving measures on Carrasco, who was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
“Deputies quickly developed suspect information and relayed that information to surrounding … law enforcement agencies,” Bishop said. “At 12:48 a.m., the suspect vehicle was located in Beaumont by a sheriff’s aviation unit.”
The helicopter crew directed Beaumont patrol units and deputies to the spot, and they signaled Lopez to pull over, but he allegedly floored it instead, leading to a pursuit that headed southbound, the sheriff’s spokesman said.
“Deputies pursued the vehicle into Hemet, where the pursuit ended at the intersection of Acacia and Florida avenues,” Bishop said, adding that Lopez was taken into custody without further incident.
A specific motive for the alleged attack wasn’t provided.
Lopez has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
For More Law and Disorder News Visit www.zapinin.com/law-and-disorder
