Arrest Made In Riverside Officer Shooting, Charges Expected

The man arrested in the shooting death of Riverside police Officer Ryan Bonaminio was convicted of battery on an officer in 1990 and numerous other crimes, including domestic violence, court records showed today.

Earl Ellis Green, 44, of Rubidoux, was given a year and four months in jail in the 1990 case, which also included a felony for receiving stolen property.

In 1997, he was convicted of vehicle theft.

His latest conviction, in 2007, was for vandalism and he could have gotten three years in prison, but a judge dismissed some prior convictions in considering his sentence, records showed.

Green was arrested about 8 p.m. Tuesday outside a Riverside Target store. He was booked at Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on suspicion of murder and a parole violation, Riverside police Sgt. Dan Russell said.

Green was denied bail. He has a court appearance scheduled Monday in Riverside Superior Court, the jailer told City News Service.

The suspect’s cousin, Eddie Green Jr., told KNX newsradio that the suspect has a violent past, and had accused him of stealing some heavy equipment. Eddie Green said he sought a restraining order against the suspect about a month ago.

“He threatened me,” Eddie Green said. “And I went down and … went to put a restraining order on him. He just got out of hand for a minute, you know. He wasn’t thinking clearly, and stuff like that. And … I didn’t want him around the family and stuff like that until he got some help.”

Officers with police and FBI insignia detained Earl Green and an unidentified woman at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday outside at the Target store in the 3300 block of Arlington Avenue.

Green fits the description of the gunman who shot Bonaminio at about 9:50 p.m. on Sunday near the entrance of Fairmount Park, off Market Street and just north of downtown Riverside, according to police.

“We like this guy, but there’s still a lot of work to do,” Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz said, speaking to reporters in the Target parking lot shortly after the arrest that involved at least a dozen officers.

Three police cars pulled into the parking lot about 8:20 p.m., Angel Ruiz, who witnessed the arrest from the Yum Yum Donuts shop in the same strip mall as the Target, told the Press-Enterprise.

Officers got out and started loading weapons. Some had on vests or jackets saying they were police, and some said FBI, said Ruiz, a 25-year-old Riverside resident.

The officers got a man on the ground, shouting they were armed and were going to disarm him, the Press-Enterprise reported.

A woman wearing a red shirt and khakis was with the man and was taken aside, searched and put into a police vehicle. A few minutes later, the male suspect was put into a squad car and driven away, the Press-Enterprise reported.

The man had been in an older-model Chevrolet flatbed truck, which was impounded by police.

Earlier Tuesday, rewards totaling $490,000 were offered for the capture of the truck thief who killed Bonaminio during a foot chase in Fairmount Park.

Diaz said the 27-year-old patrolman was trying to catch a trucker involved in a hit-and-run crash in the area. The big rig cab had been stolen minutes earlier from a rental facility just outside the city, according to the chief.

When the suspect ran, Bonaminio chased him, leading to an altercation during which Bonaminio was shot and killed, Diaz said.

“We don’t know whether the suspect had a gun or not,” said Riverside police Detective Ron Sanfilippo. “The officer’s gun has not been recovered.”

The suspect may have run ahead of Bonaminio, hidden and waited for him before struggling with the officer and taking his gun, police said Tuesday.

After shooting Bonaminio, the gunman jumped back into the rig and returned it to the location from where he had stolen it, according to Diaz.

Bonaminio — a Riverside resident who graduated from Ramona High School in 2000 — joined the U.S. Army and completed two combat tours in Iraq.

Bonaminio served with the 314th Military Police and his assignments included Kuwait City, Baghdad, Mosul and Umm Qasr in southern Iraq. He also served in the 282nd Base Support Battalion in Hohenfels, Germany.

The Riverside native began working for the police department in July 2006 while still in the Army Reserves.

“I had a son that spent two tours in Iraq, and he’s been home one year, and he gave his life on our soil, and I want to know why,” said Joseph Bonaminio, the slain officer’s father. “And I want to know where the logic in that is. I don’t understand. My wife doesn’t understand. And we just said goodbye to our son.”

Joseph Bonaminio told reporters he doesn’t “feel any rage” about what happened.

“I just want this person to come forward and have his just due, and serve his punishment,” he said. “And those people out there, if you know this individual, just please have him come forward or let somebody know where he’s at. And let’s just put an end to this. I’m just looking for an end to this. That’s all.”

Anyone with information on the killing was urged to call Sanfilippo at (951) 353-7105, or Detective Greg Rowe at (951) 353-7130.