Photo Courtesy of Riverside Co. Sheriff’s Dept.
On Friday, May 20, 2016, Walter Farrell Treen, 53, also known as Fred Lopez, of the Santa Rosa Indian Reservation in Mountain Center, was arraigned in Riverside County Superior Court in Murrieta on one felony charge of violation of Penal Code section 245, subdivision (a)(1), felony assault with a firearm. He also was charged with several sentencing enhancements, including inflicting bodily injury or inflicting great bodily injury with a firearm.
According to the declaration of Detective James Roy of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Hemet Station, a year ago, on Monday afternoon, May 25, 2015, Gary Meyers, Treen’s uncle, telephoned 911 to report that his nephew had fired about 16 rounds at him from a .22 rifle, hitting him once in the arm. Meyers reported that the shooting took place on the Santa Rosa Reservation near the intersection of Santa Rosa Road and Loop Road.
Both Gary Meyers and his sister, Shana Meyers, who is Treen’s mother, told Roy they believed that the shooting was motivated by years of dissension between the brother and sister, Shana Meyers stated that she thought her son had retaliated for years of poor treatment of her by her brother, Gary.
A warrant was issued for Treen’s arrest, and recently it was learned that he was confined in the George F. Baily Detention Facility in San Diego. On the declaration of Supervising Deputy District Attorney Sam Kaloustian, of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, a court order was obtained to transfer Treen to Murrieta for arraignment on the 2015 shooting.
At his arraignment, Treen pleaded not guilty to the central charge against him, assault with a firearm, and denied all of the sentence-enhancing charges. A Felony Settlement Conference was set 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 1, in Department S204 in Murrieta, and Treen’s preliminary hearing was set for 8:30 a.m. Friday, June 3, in Department S201 in Murrieta.
Treen currently is in the custody of the Riverside County Sheriff with bail set in the amount of $1 million.
