Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies arrested local Alfredo Tartaglia on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse.
According to an RCSD Hemet station press release, Tartaglia was arrested after witnesses and a surveillance video confirmed his identity. Deputies arrested him at his residence after a brief struggle and booked him into the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
The victims, Robert Child, 68, and Rick Holmes, 67, both of Idyllwild, sustained facial and head injuries. Witnesses described Tartaglia as acting erratically and possibly being under the influence of a controlled substance.
Witnesses said Tartaglia first assaulted Child as he was fueling his vehicle and then, when Holmes tried to intervene to help Child, Tartaglia attacked him. Each man required medical transportation to the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage. The victims stated they did nothing to provoke an altercation and neither knew the subject.
Anyone with information on this incident should call Hemet Station at (791-3400).