LAKE ELSINORE, CA — A Feb. 13 trial date was confirmed Tuesday for a probationer accused of stabbing a man multiple times during an attack in Lake Elsinore.
Pablo Bustamante Jr., 40, is charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony and inflicting great bodily injury for the alleged 2023 attack.
During a pretrial hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta on Tuesday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Monterosso conferred with the prosecution and defense regarding scheduling, and both sides agreed to clear their calendars for proceedings in the second week of February.
Bustamante is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center.
According to Cpl. Evan Bechtold of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, shortly after 11 p.m. on April 30, 2023, the defendant and victim, identified only as a Lake Elsinore man, were involved in an unspecified confrontation in the 31000 block of Riverside Drive, near Lakeshore Drive, during which Bustamante allegedly pulled a knife and attacked the other man.
Patrol deputies converged on the location minutes later and discovered the victim “suffering from multiple stab wounds and losing consciousness,” Bechtold said.
The man was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar for surgery. He ultimately survived.
Deputies obtained a description of Bustamante and were directed to a residential area in the 15000 block of Lincoln Street, just over a mile away from where the alleged attack occurred. He was apprehended three hours later without incident, according to Bechtold.
A possible motive for the alleged attack was not provided.
Court records show the defendant has a prior misdemeanor conviction for driving under the influence.
