A 22-year-old parolee accused of using his vehicle to intentionally ram a sheriff’s deputy on a motorcycle during an attempted traffic stop in La Quinta was jailed Thursday without bail.
Gabriel Sampson Ruiz was arrested Wednesday in the 73300 block of San Nicholas in Palm Desert and booked at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, according to Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. David Aldrich.
The motorcycle deputy tried to pull Ruiz over in the area of Fred Waring Drive and Jefferson Street in La Quinta for an unspecified traffic violation, but the motorist sped off, the sergeant said.
During the pursuit that followed, Ruiz stopped, “put his vehicle in reverse and collided with the deputy’s motorcycle” before fleeing the scene and hitting two other vehicles in the process, Aldrich alleged.
The suspect vehicle was located later that day in Palm Desert, where Ruiz was taken into custody.
Jail records show he was booked on suspicion of a parole violation, although a sheriff’s statement said he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a peace officer.
Ruiz has a prior felony conviction for robbery in Riverside County, court records show.