A 36-year-old transient accused of stabbing a man in the neck during an unprovoked attack at a downtown Riverside Metrolink station was charged Wednesday with attempted murder.
Richard Demetrius Bonner was arrested Monday following a 24-hour investigation by Riverside police.
Along with attempted murder, Bonner faces sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony and inflicting great bodily injury.
He’s being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail and is slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, the attack happened shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday at the train station in the 4000 block of Vine Street, adjacent to the Riverside (91) Freeway.
The victim, whose name was withheld, was waiting for a commuter train when he was allegedly accosted by Bonner.
“After a brief verbal exchange, the suspect produced a knife and unprovokedly stabbed the victim in the neck,” Railsback alleged. “The suspect fled … north along the railroad tracks.”
Witnesses called 911, and the victim was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where he is recovering, according to Railsback.
An hours-long search of the area was conducted with bloodhounds, but officers could not locate the assailant. After video security surveillance images of the man were posted to social media, the police department received numerous tips as to who he might be, Railsback said.
He said detectives worked the case all day and into the night, eventually identifying Bonner as the alleged perpetrator and tracking him to a house in the 12100 block of Graham Street in Moreno Valley, where a search warrant was served and he was taken into custody without a struggle.
Bonner has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
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