Shooting Death of Suspected Car Thief
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – A man accused of gunning down a suspected car thief in Riverside, even though the victim wasn’t taking a vehicle that belonged to the shooter, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and other charges.
Tony Javier Ortiz, 41, of Perris was arrested in July following a Riverside Police Department investigation into the death of 35-year-old Alex Arzate of Riverside.
Along with murder, Ortiz is charged with sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
He was arraigned Tuesday before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Walter Kubelun, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Dec. 11 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Ortiz is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to police spokesman Officer Ryan Railsback, just after midnight on July 24, Arzate allegedly broke into a Honda Civic in the Arlington neighborhood of west Riverside, and Ortiz was watching.
“Investigators … believe Ortiz witnessed Arzate steal the Civic, then produce a handgun and shoot Arzate as he was driving away in the stolen car,” Railsback said.
He did not disclose to whom the Honda belonged, but it wasn’t Ortiz’s car.
Arzate was struck in the head by the gunfire and managed to go a short distance, into the 9100 block of Magnolia Avenue, where he plowed into several parked vehicles and a dumpster before coming to a stop, according to Railsback.
Witnesses called 911, and patrol officers and paramedics reached the location minutes later, discovering Arzate slumped over the wheel, unconscious from the head wound.
He was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where he died three hours later.
Robbery-Homicide Unit detectives identified Ortiz as the alleged shooter within a few hours, and a search warrant was obtained and served at his home on Brown Street, where several guns were seized, including the one likely used in the shooting, Railsback said.
Ortiz has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
Background details on Arzate were not available.
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