A 36-year-old man accused of stabbing a Good Hope resident during a confrontation at his property pleaded not guilty Friday to attempted murder and other offenses.
Salvador Ruiz Ortiz was arrested last week following an investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in the 21000 block of Mountain Avenue, near Belita Drive.
Along with attempted murder, Ortiz is charged with sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony and inflicting great bodily injury.
The defendant was arraigned Friday before Superior Court Judge Gary Polk, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for May 30 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Ortiz is being 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, 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’s now recovering at home.
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.
The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.