A 37-year-old man accused of stabbing a Good Hope resident during a confrontation at the victim’s property must stand trial for attempted murder and other offenses, a judge ruled Friday.
Salvador Ruiz Ortiz was arrested last March following an investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in the 21000 block of Mountain Avenue, near Belita Drive.
At the end of a preliminary hearing Friday, Superior Court Judge Emma Smith found there was sufficient evidence to bound Ortiz over for trial on the attempted murder count and sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony and inflicting great bodily injury.
The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for March 12 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Ortiz remains held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Chad Thompson, just before 8 a.m. on March 16, 2025, Ortiz and the victim, identified in court documents only as “F.B.,” were involved in an unspecified conflict at the Mountain Avenue property, culminating in the defendant allegedly pulling a knife and attacking the man.
Witnesses called 911, and patrol deputies arrived minutes later, finding F.B. with “traumatic stab wounds.”
The victim was taken to Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley for treatment. He has since recovered.
Deputies immediately identified Ortiz as the alleged assailant. He was taken into custody without incident four hours later, less than two blocks from where the confrontation occurred. It was unclear if Ortiz resided at that location. His home city was not disclosed.
The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.