A 20-year-old man accused of shooting at a man and his 8-year-old son in Coachella pleaded not guilty Wednesday to attempted murder and other felonies.
In addition to attempted murder, Feliciano Navarette III of Coachella was charged with four other felony counts, one each of assault with a gun, criminal threats to cause death or great bodily injury, willful child cruelty and possession of controlled substances while armed, according to court records.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges at the Larson Justice Center in Indio on Wednesday afternoon.
Deputies responded to the 84100 block of Tera Vista at approximately 8:10 a.m. Saturday in response to a reported shooting, according to Sgt. David Aldrich of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Aldrich said a 30-year-old Coachella father and his 8-year-old son were in the area when a man opened fire on them, striking a vehicle several times. Neither the father nor the child was struck.
Navarette drove away in a white BMW, Aldrich said. He was arrested at about 5 p.m. that day in the 200 block of East Shoreline Drive in Long Beach.
Personnel from the sheriff’s Thermal station Investigations Bureau served a search warrant on the vehicle Navarette was driving, and allegedly recovered the firearm suspected of being used in the shooting.
Navarette was subsequently booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio. He was being held on $1 million bail.
Anyone with information about the incident was asked to contact investigator Lopez at 760-863-8990 or anonymously at 760-341-7867.
