Salcido Faces Second Trial In Desert Hot Springs Gun Battle

A Desert Hot Springs man accused of initiating a gun battle with a police sergeant will be retried on attempted murder and assault charges, a prosecutor said today.

Francisco “Poncho” Salcido, 31, allegedly opened fire on Desert Hot Springs police Sgt. Robert Ritchie on Memorial Day 2008.

Salcido was convicted in April on lesser charges of possessing a firearm in a vehicle and being an active member of a street gang, but jurors deadlocked 7-5 in favor of guilt on charges of attempted murder and and assault with a firearm on a peace officer.

The defendant faces up to seven years, four months in prison on the lesser-charge convictions, but he will not be sentenced until the other two charges are resolved, Deputy District Attorney Jake Silva said.

Salcido is due back in court June 14, when attorneys will confer on a new trial schedule.

Salcido, who remains in the Indio Jail in lieu of $1.5 million bail, also faces two other attempted murder charges in a separate case stemming from a 2005 shooting in which he allegedly shot at rival gang members. He and co- defendant David Gazcon Jr. will also make an appearance in that case June 14.

That trial won’t begin until a resolution is reached in Salcido’s officer-related case and Gazcon is tried on a separate murder charge from another gang shooting.

During her closing argument in April, defense attorney Leni Jacobs acknowledged the defendant was a 10-year member of the West Drive Locos street gang, but said jurors should not assume Salcido was lying when he testified that Ritchie fired the first shot.

“Just because he is a member of a gang doesn’t mean he is what the prosecution has portrayed to you,” she said.

Silva said Salcido was lying on the stand when he described the May 28, 2008, shootout. The prosecutor alleged the defendant was acting as any typical gang member would when confronted by an officer.

“Sgt. Ritchie was doing his job and Mr. Salcido was doing his,” Silva said. “His job was to get away, and he tried to fulfill that by trying to murder Sgt. Ritchie.”

Salcido testified he did not initiate the shootout and was not trying to kill the officer.

The defendant said he heard Ritchie rack a round, then fired back at the officer. He said he ran from the scene and hid for two days because he was “frightened” and “fearful of the police.”

Salcido was grazed in the head by one bullet, which opened up a gash.

“He was only trying to protect himself,” Jacobs told the jury. “He didn’t want to get shot.”

Ritchie testified that Salcido got out of a car the sergeant had been following and fired 12 rounds of ammunition at him, opening fire first. Ritchie said he returned shots while diving to the ground, getting off 16 to 17 rounds.

Ritchie was not injured and has since retired from the police force.

The defendant’s cousin, Desert Hot Springs resident Alisha Marie Lopez, 32, and her boyfriend Ernie Mendoza Chavez, 21, both pleaded guilty to an aiding and abetting charge for housing Salcido for two days while he was being sought by police.