Hemet woman who attacked children and mother inside Riverside park bathroom arrested
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Authorities say a weapon-wielding Hemet woman, who had recently been released from a Riverside County mental health facility, confronted and attacked a mother and children inside the bathroom of a Riverside park Sunday morning, May 23. The woman allegedly robbed the mom of her cell phone before mother and her two children were able to escape the attack.
The violent incident that led to the woman’s arrest occurred at the Don Lorenzi Park, at the corner of Jackson Street and California Avenue. Although officials did not specify the mental health facility the alleged suspect had been released from or exactly when she had been released, Riverside County Emergency Treatment Services – which provides urgent care and mental health screening and assessment services for those experiencing a mental health crisis, is just a mile from where Sunday morning’s attack occurred.
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City of Riverside police officers were dispatched to the park around 11:40 a.m. after receiving reports of an assault that had just occurred, Riverside Police Department has since said of the incident and arrest.
When officers arrived they learned that a woman was attending a soccer game at the park with her children when her two kids entered the restroom and encountered an erratic woman inside.
Authorities say a Hemet transient had just been released from a nearby Riverside County mental health facility when she confronted and attacked a mother and children, robbing the mom of her cell phone before the trio was able to escape Sunday’s violent bathroom attack. Riverside Police Department photo
When the mother realized there was a problem inside the bathroom, she went inside the small building where she was attacked by a woman, since identified as Maria Celeste Pacheco, a 29-year-old transient from Hemet.
As soon as the mom entered the bathroom, officials say Pacheco attacked the mother and children, violently pulling the mom’s hair and stealing the the woman’s cell phone from her back pocket.
The mom was eventually able to fend off the attack and break free from the suspect, at which time she and her children fled from the bathroom and called 911 to report the attack, officials explained.
When officers arrived, they located the Pacheco, who was still inside the restroom. Officers discovered Pacheco still had the victim’s phone in her possession and also found the woman was in possession of strands of her hair from the attack, according to RPD.
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Based on their investigation, officers arrested Pacheco and she was later booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on suspicion of second-degree robbery, false imprisonment, brandishing a deadly weapon other than a firearm, making criminal threats, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Online jail records indicate she remains in custody in lieu of $30,000 bail or bond and she is scheduled to be arraigned at the Riverside Hall Of Justice on May 27.
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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor 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, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.