Pair Suspected of Assaulting, Carjacking Mead Valley Motorist

BANNING (CNS) – Felony charges are expected to be filed Wednesday against two men suspected of carjacking a Mead Valley motorist who gave them a ride, striking and shooting at the man to force him to surrender the vehicle. Anthony Atilano, 26, and Daniel Enrique Quevedo, 28, both of Moreno Valley, were arrested and booked into the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on Sunday on suspicion of carjacking and battery resulting in great bodily injury. Quevedo was additionally booked for being a convicted felon in possession of a loaded firearm. Each suspect is being held in lieu of $60,000 bail. Their case is under review by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. According to Sgt. Dave Tinker of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the attack occurred in the predawn hours of March 26 in the 22000 block of Cajalco Road in Mead Valley. Tinker said the victim, whose identity was not disclosed, was driving his friend’s 2008 Saturn Vue through the area when he spotted Atilano and Quevedo trying to catch a ride. Tinker alleged that after the man picked them up, they turned hostile, "assaulted him, fired a round from a sawed-off shotgun and stole the vehicle." The victim was able to seek help, and patrol deputies located him bleeding from the head on Cajalco at about 6 a.m. that day, according to the sergeant. He said the man was taken to a hospital for treatment and is recovering. The Saturn was located abandoned later the same day in Moreno Valley. Detectives obtained video surveillance tape from a convenience store where the suspects allegedly stopped while driving the compact SUV, and based on that and other evidence, they were eventually able to identify the two alleged carjackers, Tinker said. The pair were taken into custody without incident at a motel on La Sierra Avenue in Riverside on Sunday night No background information on Atilano was available, but jail records indicated that Quevedo has prior convictions, though they weren’t listed. Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.