Man wounded in alleged shootout with Indio police officers to stand trial

A convicted felon who was wounded after he allegedly opened fire on two Indio police officers attempting to detain him must stand trial on attempted murder of a peace officer and other felony charges, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Eddie Joseph Rivera, 33, was arrested just over a year ago after he allegedly tried to shoot two officers in the area of Highway 111 and Madison Street.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Harold Hopp found sufficient evidence to order the defendant to proceed to trial on two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer, and one count each of robbery, attempted robbery, illegal possession of a weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm, as well as sentence-enhancing gun use allegations.

Hopp scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Dec. 23 and kept Rivera’s bail at $1 million.

The ex-con is being held at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

Around 8 a.m. on Nov. 29, 2012, an officer was on routine patrol when he saw a man, later identified as Rivera, using a pay phone outside a Kmart shopping center and determined the individual matched the description of a suspect in an earlier robbery in La Quinta, according to Indio police.

The lawman tried to get Rivera to come over to his patrol car, parked in a driveway north of Highway 111 on the east side of Madison near a Stater Bros. store and a bank, according to Indio police spokesman Ben Guitron.

“The officer made contact with the suspect, the suspect pulled out a gun and shot at the officer, the officer shot back, (wounding the suspect),” Guitron said then.

Rivera also allegedly fired at another officer as he arrived at the scene, but both men escaped injury, Guitron said.

Rivera was treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and later transported to jail.

According to court records, he has prior convictions for robbery, attempted robbery and misdemeanor vandalism.