Two Orange County jail inmates accused in an attack on a fellow prisoner, whose throat was slashed with a razor blade, made their initial court appearances Monday.
Richard Molina, 33, is charged with attempted murder, battery with serious bodily injury and possessing tear gas while in custody, all felonies. Molina also faces sentence- enhancing allegations of attempted premeditated murder, possessing a dangerous or deadly weapon and inflicting great bodily harm.
Steven Allen Ramos, 26, is charged with being an accessory after the fact and possession of tear gas while in custody, both felonies.
Neither defendant entered a plea. Their arraignments were rescheduled to Nov. 20.
Molina allegedly slashed the neck of the victim during a fight in the Theo Lacy Jail in Orange on Oct. 14. Orange County sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said the victim, whose name was withheld, required stitches.
Authorities were unable to retrieve the razor blade, which was hidden after the attack, Hallock said, adding that such attacks in the jail are “infrequent.”
Molina has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 2002 in Orange County according to the criminal complaint filed against him.
Molina was taken into custody most recently in January of this year when he was charged with theft. He pleaded guilty May 5 to buying or receiving a stolen vehicle or equipment with a prior felony, failing to stop at a hit-and- run accident with injury or death, both felonies, and a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest, and was sentenced to three years behind bars.
Molina pleaded guilty in April 2013 to theft with a prior felony conviction of driving or taking of vehicle, buying or receiving a stolen vehicle or equipment and evading police, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, hit-and-run with property damage and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records.
He was sentenced to two years and eight months in that case.
In August 2010, Molina was sentenced to 16 months in prison for stealing a car, according to court records. He also pleaded guilty to being a gang member carrying a concealed gun in a vehicle in November 2002 and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
Ramos pleaded guilty Feb. 24 to a felony count of possessing a gun while in probation and a misdemeanor count of grossly negligent discharge of a gun. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, according to jail records.
— Wire reports