A convicted felon accused of shooting at two men behind a Moreno Valley strip mall was charged Monday with two counts of firearm assault and other offenses, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Michael Nikita Diggins II, 43, of Moreno Valley was arrested Thursday following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.
Along with the firearm assault counts, Diggins is charged with shooting at an inhabited building and being a felon in possession of a gun.
He was arraigned before Superior Court Judge Gail O’Rane, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for July 26 at the Riverside Hall of Justice and ordered that Diggins be held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. James Merrill, early Thursday morning, patrol deputies were alerted to gunshots behind a strip mall near the intersection of Iris Avenue and Lasselle Street, prompting them to investigate.
Merrill said the deputies “located evidence of a shooting” behind two businesses, but the gunman was nowhere in sight.
“Witnesses reported a vehicle stopped in the street near a bus stop, and (the driver) started firing a handgun,” the sergeant said.
Court documents identified two men who were allegedly targeted by the gunman, identified as “R.R.” and John Doe.
A possible motive was not disclosed.
Detectives soon developed leads pointing to Diggins as the alleged shooter, culminating in an arrest warrant being served on the defendant at a property on Badger Springs Trail, where he was taken into custody without incident, Merrill said.
Court records show Diggins has prior convictions out of Los Angeles County, but they weren’t specified.