Riverside Police Officer Shoots Armed Carjacking Suspect
Posted on
August 7,2024
Riverside, California — On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at approximately 10:26 a.m., Riverside Police Officers assigned to Problem Oriented Policing (POP) Team conducted an area check along the 6600 block of Palm Avenue for a vehicle that was taken in a carjacking earlier in the day. POP Officers located the carjacked vehicle occupied by a male driver and male passenger in this area. As they began to make an enforcement stop, the driver of the carjacked vehicle failed to pull over and turned into an apartment complex where he continued to the rear of the property. The driver quickly exited the carjacked vehicle holding a handgun. One of the POP officers then fired four times from his duty handgun, striking the driver once in the back.
Officers assessed the driver’s injuries and summoned medical aid. He was taken to a local hospital where he remains under arrest and in custody while receiving medical care and awaiting transfer to a detention ward at another medical facility. The driver and carjacking suspect was identified as 42-years-old Eddie Madrigal, from Moreno Valley. Madrigal is a documented gang member currently on parole for robbery with use of a firearm. The firearm Eddie was holding when contacted by officers was a .22 caliber handgun that was loaded with 10 rounds. The passenger remained in the vehicle and was detained by officers. There was a passenger in the stolen car that was detained by other POP Team members. This passenger, another gang member, was later released after investigators did not believe he was present during or involved in the carjacking.
Eddie was convicted of robbery in concert with the use of a firearm in 2016 and sentenced to 12 years in state prison. He was released on parole supervision in September of 2023. Since his release, he was arrested for violating his parole in January of 2024, March of 2024, and again on June 3rd, 2024. He was sentenced to serve 135 days in jail, but released after 12 days due to current laws requiring the early release of non or lesser violent inmates in order to prevent overcrowding. Eddie Madrigal has been charged by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office with carjacking, brandishing a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm and being prohibited from possessing a firearm, possession of controlled substances, violation of parole, resisting, delaying, or obstructing a law enforcement officer, and additionally, an enhancement for having prior serious felonies. He's still being held in custody on $1 Million Dollars bail.
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