Felon Convicted Of Assault At Rancho Mirage Motel

RANCHO MIRAGE, CA — A 34-year-old felon was convicted Monday of grabbing a woman he was casually dating by the neck outside a motel room in Rancho Mirage.

Adalberto Raygoza of Cathedral City was convicted of one felony count each of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, assault on a person causing great bodily injury and false imprisonment, according to Riverside County District Attorney's Office information specialist John Hall. A sentencing date was not immediately available.

Deputy District Attorney James Graff-Radford and Raygoza's defense attorney Christopher DeSalva concluded their closing arguments Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio and jurors began deliberating immediately after. They reached a verdict Monday afternoon.

During opening statements, Graff-Radford showed jurors a photo of the victim from the night of the altercation. He said she is clearly a human being but was not treated as such on May 30, 2022, the day of the altercation.

The victim received a text from the defendant in the evening asking her to go to a room at the motel in Rancho Mirage, Graff-Radford said. She parked in the back of the motel, met the defendant and they started to hang out and talk.

As they talked into the early morning hours of the following day, the defendant accused the woman of cheating, so she attempted to leave by walking to the back of the motel toward her car, according to Graff-Radford. The defendant followed her, got in front of her, prevented her from getting in her car and they continued to argue, he said.

Raygoza then slapped her across the face, pinned her to the ground, and began to choke and threaten her, Graff-Radford said. She was eventually able to fighting him off of her, and as she tried to gather herself to leave, he grabbed onto her while she was on the ground and dragged her approximately 100 feet up the stairs, and to the motel room.

As they were arguing in the room, the victim was able to get out and a deputy arrived shortly afterward, according to Graff-Radford. The deputy found the victim distraught on the staircase and she told the responding deputy what happened.

During the trial, jurors were shown a video of the altercation.

Graff-Radford also presented the video during the preliminary hearing, which shows a view from outside the motel room, where Raygoza is seen allegedly hitting the victim on the ground and putting his hands near her face as she attempts to kick and fight back. The defendant walked away and returned before allegedly grabbing the victim and taking her back into the motel room.

Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy Adrienne Morrow testified that he responded May 30, 2022, to a call from a man at Motel 6 in Rancho Mirage saying he heard what sounded like a man and woman fighting above his room. When he responded to the scene, he spoke with the alleged victim, who had a bruise on her left eye.

"She told me that she was socked by Raygoza. She stated that Raygoza accused her of hanging out with a group of other individuals ... in Cathedral City," Morrow said. "She said that she was grabbed by the neck for approximately 30 seconds. ... She said he was calling her a (expletive) and (saying) to just die."

Morrow also testified that he did not find Raygoza at the motel the day of the altercation.

After a warrant was issued for Raygoza's arrest, he was found Sept. 8, 2022, running by railroad tracks near Bob Hope Drive and Ramon Road, according to Sgt. Dave Morton with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. He was chased on foot and arrested.

He has prior convictions in Riverside County for possession of controlled substances, resisting arrest and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, according to court records.