Ex-con charged with assaulting deputies in confrontation, chase

A convicted felon who allegedly dragged a deputythrough a Moreno Valley parking lot when the lawman attempted to reach into thesuspect’s car and detain him for illegal drug use was charged today withassault on a peace officer and other felonies.

Robert Anthony Caspari, 31, is also accused of leading law enforcementofficers on a high-speed pursuit from Moreno Valley to Riverside that endedwith the defendant crashing his vehicle into a police car.

Along with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a peaceofficer, Caspari is charged with reckless driving and possession of illegaldrugs, both felonies, as well as being a potential five-strike felon.

The defendant, who’s being held in lieu of $190,000 bail at the RobertPresley Jail in Riverside, was slated to make his initial court appearance thisafternoon.

The confrontation with the deputy, whose identity was not released,occurred around 10:50 a.m. last Thursday in the parking lot of a 99 Cent Onlystore at Cottonwood Avenue and Perris Boulevard.

The deputy spotted two men in a white four-door Dodge Neon behavingsuspiciously and approached to investigate, according to reports from thescene. When he looked inside, the deputy said two suspects appeared to beshooting up with heroin and he tried to arrest the driver, who immediatelyfloored the sedan, dragging the deputy about 10 feet and possibly running overone of his legs.

Sheriff’s personnel immediately fanned out across the city in a searchfor the Neon, which was spotted about 15 minutes later idling in an alleywayoff of Alessandro Boulevard, near March Air Reserve Base. It was occupied onlyby the driver, who raced out of the alley — nearly striking a sheriff’s patrolunit — and headed onto northbound Interstate 215.

Deputies pursued the Neon into the city of Riverside, where the chasereached speeds of 90 mph as Caspari allegedly fled north on Martin Luther KingBoulevard and then over to University Avenue before heading onto the westboundRiverside (91) Freeway.

He exited the freeway at Central Avenue, blasting past the RiversidePlaza shopping center and turning back west on Magnolia Avenue, with sheriff’sunits, Riverside police and a California Highway Patrol officer in pursuit.

According to Riverside police, a patrol car rammed the Neon at Brocktonand Magnolia avenues, at which point Caspari attempted to flee on foot but wasquickly apprehended.

The whereabouts of the second suspect, described only as a Hispanic manwearing an L.A. Lakers basketball jersey, remain unknown.

The hobbled deputy was transported to Riverside County Regional MedicalCenter in Moreno Valley, where he was treated for a non-life-threatening leginjury.

According to court records, Caspari has a string of felony convictions,including for illegal possession of drugs, burglary and statutory rape.