SAN JACINTO: Shots fired investigation leads to vehicle pursuit, arrests

SAN JACINTO – Deputies investigating reports of shots fired were led on a nearly forty-minute-long pursuit after they located the vehicle involved in the shooting Friday, Dec. 23. The shooting incident that led to the pursuit happened in the area of E. 5th Street and S. Jordan Avenue in San Jacinto.

Deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s San Jacinto Police station responded to reports of the shooting just after 10 p.m.

The victim provided investigating deputies with a description of the vehicle that the suspects were driving when they fired the weapon. The vehicle was described as a newer model, black, Ford Explorer Sport Trac pickup truck.

While investigating the shooting incident, deputies spotted a truck that matched the description of the one used in the shooting. Deputies located the truck in the area of E. Commonwealth and S. San Jacinto Avenues.

Deputies attempted to conduct an investigatory traffic stop at 10:18 p.m. In spite of the deputies lights and siren, “the suspects failed to yield and a pursuit was initiated,” Riverside County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Deputy Mike Vasquez explained.

Deputies pursued the vehicle, which was occupied by three subjects. The driver was later identified as 18-year-old, Jose Ramirez Jr and one of the passengers was identified as 19-year-old, Juan Quintos Jr. There was no information immediately available regarding the third person inside the vehicle.

During the pursuit, Ramirez drove in an extremely reckless and dangerous manner, without regard for the safety of other motorists or the pursuing deputies. Ramirez repeatedly ran stop signs and stop lights and drove on the wrong side of the roadway into oncoming traffic several times.

The nearly forty-minute-long pursuit traveled through San Jacinto, into Hemet, and back into San Jacinto several times as the suspects attempted to elude the pursuing deputies.

At 10:51 p.m., just over thirty minutes into the pursuit, deputies managed to get ahead of the suspect’s vehicle and successfully deployed spike strips in the area of Ramona Expressway near State Street.

After the truck ran over the spike strips the driver’s side rear-tire was flattened.

“The pursuit terminated when the suspect vehicle stopped and all three occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody without incident,” Vasquez explained.

The pursuit ended at the dead-end of N. Sheriff Avenue north of E. 1st Street in San Jacinto.

Deputies later located a weapon the suspects allegedly used in the initial shooting that led to the pursuit. They also located numerous shell casings inside the vehicle, according to witnesses at the scene where the pursuit finally came to an end.

No one was injured in the shooting incident or during the subsequent pursuit.

A jail record search revealed Ramirez was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on suspicion of felony evading. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Quintos was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of ammunition, and tampering with serial numbers on a firearm. He is being held without bail.

Both alleged suspects are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, Dec 29.

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The pursuit continued for seven minutes after the truck’s rear tire was flattened. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents video.

The pursuit ended in a felony stop, when all three suspects were taken into custody. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents video.

 

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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.