Man fatally shot during encounter with bounty hunters in Riverside
Riverside CA Dec 5 2017 A wanted man was fatally shot in the head Sunday evening during a struggle with two bounty hunters, according to Riverside police.
Riverside County sheriff’s dispatchers received a call from the unidentified bounty hunters about 5:10 p.m. asking for law enforcement and medical personnel assistance to the riverbed of the Santa Ana River — which is often dry — in the area of Van Buren Boulevard, Officer Ryan Railsback said.
The man was taken to the hospital but later died, according to police press release.
Initial information identified the bounty hunters as bail bondsman, but police later clarified the men were not bondsmen. According to Bountyhunteredu.org, a bail bondsman is the person who makes the load to the client to make bail but a bounty hunter works “with bail bondsman in order to track, locate, apprehend, and return fugitive criminals to the criminal justice system.”
Police homicide detectives were called to the river bottom to take over the investigation into the shooting.
Preliminary information shows the bounty hunters were at the river bottom looking for a wanted man, according to the press release. They were conducting “surveillance” on the man when, at some point, the agents and the wanted man began fighting, resulting in the shooting, officials said.
The shooting remains under investigation, Railsback wrote in an email, but no arrests have been made.
The river divides Riverside to the south and Jurupa Valley to the north, so Riverside police officers and county sheriff’s deputies who patrol in Jurupa Valley both responded.
Authorities determined the shooting happened in Riverside territory, so city police will handle the investigation, Railsback said.
Investigators ask anyone with information to call Detective Karla Beler at 951-353-7138 or kbeler@riversideca.gov, or Detective Adrian Tillett at 951-353-7105 or atillett@riversideca.gov. Those wishing to remain anonymous can email rpdtips@riversideca.gov, or utilize the Riverside Police Department’s mobile app’s Submit at Tip feature while referencing Incident No. P17217676
Press Enterprise.
