Three Long Beach residents who apparently came to Riverside County to discharge firearms were arrested by deputies from the sheriff’s Lake Elsinore station, a sergeant said Wednesday.
Joel Melena, 23, Noe Ochoa, 18 and Marco Antonio Coronel, 19, were all booked into the county jail on suspicion of probation violation and possession of a firearm; Melena and Coronel were each released on bond for $25,000 bail and ordered back to court Sept. 6.
Ochoa remained behind bars in lieu of $25,000 bail, pending arraignment Friday.
The three were caught when deputies went to investigate an unoccupied vehicle about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday on Eucalyptus Avenue, near Quail Drive, sheriff’s Sgt. Chad Loeffler wrote in a news release.
The deputy who approached the vehicle spotted three men standing nearby and quickly determined they had been shooting weapons, Loeffler wrote.
Other deputies searched the area and found a revolver that turned out to be stolen, an unregistered rifle and a rifle with its serial numbers removed, the sergeant wrote.
The vehicle contained evidence that the men were linked to the firearms, Loeffler stated.
