Ex-Cathedral City police officer to stand trial for alleged domestic violence
A former Cathedral City policeman accused of assaulting and harassing a former girlfriend must stand trial for making criminal threats and other offenses, a judge ruled today.
Claudiu Murzea, 46, of Rancho Cucamonga was arrested earlier this month following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into the alleged acts of domestic violence. He had already been charged separately for alleged drug abuse.
A preliminary hearing was convened Friday morning to weigh the validity of the domestic violence case exclusively.
After hearing evidence, Superior Court Judge Steven Counelis found there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial on the criminal threats count, along with misdemeanor charges of battery on a domestic partner and violating a domestic violence restraining order.
The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Nov. 3 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. On a motion by the defense, Counelis also agreed to reduce Murzea's bond from $1 million to $100,000, likely enabling the defendant to post bail. He was still in custody at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside early Friday afternoon.
A trial-setting conference is also scheduled next month in the ex- lawman's other case, in which he's charged with destroying evidence and possession of controlled substances, both misdemeanors.
He was taken into custody for the domestic violence-related charges on Oct. 4.
According to a criminal complaint, the defendant allegedly threatened the woman, identified in court documents only as "M.M.," and perpetrated an unspecified assault on her, violating a court order in the process.
"The victim is terrified as Murzea has guns registered to him (and) is a trained former police officer from Cathedral City,'' according to a bail-setting request filed by the sheriff's department. ``He was terminated due to drug offenses and has since made credible criminal threats to the Riverside County D.A.'s office, Cathedral City PD and a (law enforcement) officer.''
The document, filed by Detective Christi Arnold, alleged that the defendant had been "demonstrating erratic behavior, based on emails and voicemails."
Murzea was first arrested and charged in connection with the drug case last November.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by the sheriff's department, on May 11, 2022, the defendant and other law enforcement personnel conducted a probation sweep in which a hotel room where a felon and another party were staying was searched.
The detainees, whose identities were not disclosed, were taken outside of the room, where Murzea was assigned to watch them, the affidavit stated.
"Officers searched the room and located fentanyl pills, powdered fentanyl, methamphetamine and a firearm,'' the document said.
It was later discovered that one of the parties removed from the hotel room had "drugs in his pocket at the time he was detained,'' but there was no record of those substances being booked into evidence, according to the affidavit.
Roughly two hours later, "Claudiu was located unconscious, suffering from a drug overdose behind the Cathedral City Police Department,'' the narrative said.
He was taken to Eisenhower Health in Rancho Mirage, where a nurse allegedly discovered fentanyl in his wallet.
"A toxicology test revealed fentanyl, as well as additional drugs, were in Claudiu's blood,'' the sheriff's department said.
The defendant recovered and was later fired from the police department.
