Riverside sting operation ends in hatchet attack against officers – Officer injured, man arrested
RIVERSIDE, Calif., — Authorities say a wanted felon on probation was arrested during a retail theft sting operation at a Riverside business Tuesday morning, October 19. One officer sustained minor injuries during the arrest, when the man – who had two felony warrants for his arrest – pulled out a hatchet and attacked arresting officers, outside the Rite-Aid pharmacy located in the 3800 block of Chicago Avenue, according to officials.
Although none of the officers were seriously injured, Riverside Police Department has since said, “This is an example of the many dangers our officers face every day when dealing with criminals on the streets. What began as a simple theft quickly turned into a violent encounter.”
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Riverside Police detectives were conducting an undercover organized retail theft operation at the Riverside location after the business and its pharmacy began experiencing a significant increase in retail thefts, the agency has since reported.
To combat those thefts detectives put together the operation and began staking out the business.
Carlos Santana, a Riverside area transient, was arrested after attacking undercover detectives with a hatchet while being confronted during an organized retail theft sting at a Riverside Rite Aid Tuesday afternoon. RPD photos
Shortly after 10:45 a.m., detectives working the operation observed a male shoplifting items from the pharmacy. When the man, since identified as Carlos Santana, a 26-year-old transient from Riverside, walked out of the pharmacy without paying for the items he was contacted by undercover officers as he exited the business.
Once contacted by detectives, Santana began fighting with the officers “and during the fight he assaulted one of them with a hatchet,” RPD explained.
Despite his violent resistance, the suspect was safely taken into custody after the altercation.
One of the officer’s sustained minor injuries from the attack but was not seriously injured, according to department officials.
Santana was later booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, resisting arrest with violence, possession of a dirk or dagger, shoplifting, and multiple other charges, as well as two outstanding felony warrants.
Online jail records indicate Santana remains in custody where he is being held without bail.
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Trevor Montgomery, 50, 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.
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