Three Arrested After Pot Deal Goes Bad

Two Temecula men were arrested Friday afternoon on an I-15 on-ramp after they assaulted a Lake Forest man following a marijuana deal, according to the Riverside Sheriff’s Department.

Highway Patrol officers responding to reports of three men fighting at 4:26 p.m. on the northbound I-15 on-ramp at Rancho California Road initially thought it was a road-rage incident, said sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Fredericks. Temecula police responded and determined that the altercation began a short time earlier near the intersection of Yukon and Rancho California roads after one of the men thought he had been ripped off during a marijuana deal, Fredericks said.

Arrested were 20-year-old Miguel Rosales and 19-year-old Gualberto Nino-Cruz Jr., both of Temecula, and 23-year-old Dominique Reliford of Lake Forest.

Police said Reliford bought marijuana from Rosales, but Rosales believed he was cheated in the transaction. Reliford fled the scene of the sale in his vehicle, with Rosales and Nino-Cruz chasing him in another vehicle.

Reliford was stopped in traffic at the intersection of Overland and Ynez roads when the Temecula men began assaulting him as he sat in his vehicle, police said. During the assault they stole property from Reliford and caused severe damage to his vehicle.

Reliford drove away but his vehicle broke down on the Rancho California Road on-ramp, where CHP officers soon arrived and detained all three suspects. Approximately two ounces of marijuana and stolen property were recovered from both vehicles, police said.

The three suspects were booked into the Southwest Detention Center. Rosales and Nino-Cruz were booked for robbery and conspiracy, both felonies, with Rosales facing a felony sale-of-marijuana charge. They remained in custody Saturday morning on $30,000 bail. Reliford was booked for felony sale of marijuana and was released Saturday morning on $20,000 bail.