Lakeside Student Pleads Not Guilty To Deadly Weapon, Assault Charges

A Lakeside High School student for allegedly having a knife on campus and threatening another student has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

During his Feb. 1 arraignment at Southwest Justice Center, Ricardo Espinoza, who turned 18 on Jan. 1, pleaded not guilty to three felony charges including making criminal threats, assault with a deadly weapon, and possessing a knife at a public school. All three charges are felonies.

According to a police report, Espinoza was arrested around 1 p.m. Monday afternoon after a school resource officer from the Lake Elsinore Police Department responded to an assault that had occurred on campus. Further investigation revealed Espinoza “threatened to do great bodily injury to another student if this student did not apologize to a female student,” according to the report.

Espinoza is due back in court Feb. 8 for a felony settlement conference.

According to jail records, he remains in custody at Southwest Detention Center in lieu of $25,000 bail.