Save Our State - Former Riverside officer charged in three robberies

Former Riverside officer charged in three robberies

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A former Riverside police officer was charged with a dozen felony counts Friday related to three robberies in Riverside and Moreno Valley.

David Reeves Jr., 28, was charged with four counts of robbery, attempted kidnapping for ransom, assault with a gun and several attempted robbery and burglary charges connected to robberies during the past week, court records show.

Reeves' arraignment was postponed Friday so he could hire a private attorney. He appeared in a Riverside courtroom wearing an orange jail uniform and shackles as a judge set bail at $500,000. His arraignment was rescheduled for Oct. 30.

Reeves was arrested Wednesday night when police said he held up a customer at gunpoint and attempted to rob a Moreno Valley Auto Zone store before customers overpowered him.

A criminal complaint states that Reeves is charged with attempting to rob the same Auto Zone store on Sunnymead Boulevard on Oct. 9.

Reeves also is charged with assault and armed robbery in a holdup Tuesday at an Auto Zone store in Riverside.

If convicted of all 12 felonies, he could face 35 years in prison.

Reeves worked as a Riverside police officer from 2002 until Thursday, when his employment ended. Police declined to comment further.

Reeves recently had been removed from patrol duties. He filed a lawsuit Sept. 28 claiming he had been harassed and discriminated against by the Riverside Police Department, Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach and Capt. Michael Blakely.

Riverside police Sgt. Jaybee Brennan said the department could not comment on the criminal case or the civil matter because both are personnel issues.

In the lawsuit, Reeves said he was being treated Sept. 2 for reinjuring his neck after fracturing two vertebrae in 2003. He said he was given permission to go get medical documents so he could undergo a fitness for duty examination, but was interrogated when he came to work later than expected, according to the court records.

Reeves claimed Blakely accused him of being under the influence of drugs when he returned, Reeves states in the documents.

He said he was taken to the department's Internal Affairs Division and ordered to undergo a field sobriety test in front of other officers and take a drug test, which he initially refused.

Reeves said he had taken no pain medication that day and was under a doctor's care.