After spending more than a year on the run, a fugitive wanted for the attempted murder of a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy has been arrested.
The suspect, Martin Perez Jr., 31, of Jurupa Valley, is wanted in connection with a shooting dating back to May 14, 2024.
Shortly after 6 p.m. that day, a deputy attempted to stop Perez near Wayneville and Lemonette Avenues in Jurupa Valley, but he refused to yield, leading to a pursuit by the deputy.
Perez eventually drove his car onto a dirt road adjacent to 68th Street, west of Butts Ranch Road, where he reportedly shot the deputy who was trailing behind him.
Perez drove his car through dense foliage near the bottom of the Santa Ana River before abandoning his car and fleeing the area on foot.
Authorities were unable to locate him and later determined that he had fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution. The deputy involved in the chase was not injured.
The Riverside County District Attorney’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit continued working to locate Perez. They found information that he was hiding in the Mexican state of Nayarit and using various fake identities to avoid arrest.
The intelligence was passed on to the U.S. Marshals Service’s Investigative Liaison Team in Mexico, which coordinated with Mexican authorities to arrest Perez.
On October 9, Mexican authorities arrested Perez in the city of Tepic, in the Mexican state of Nayarit. At the San Ysidro Port of Entry, he was detained by authorities in Riverside County, where he will face charges.
“The District Attorney’s Office would like to express our sincere gratitude to the United States
Marshals assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara and at Fiscalía General del Estado de Nayarit (Nayarit State, Mexican Attorney General’s Office), whose efforts made the successful arrest possible, officials said.
An arraignment hearing is scheduled for Oct. 13 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.