Arbuckle shooting suspect pleads guilty

An Arbuckle man has pleaded guilty to felony charges connected to the March shooting that left a teenage girl injured.

Ubaldo Ambriz-Ruiz, 21, was one of four men accused in the shooting that authorities said was gang-related,

Ambriz-Ruiz pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of criminal street gang activity and shooting at a person from a vehicle, according to Dave Bates, Colusa County chief deputy district attorney.

Also on Wednesday, another suspect was dismissed from the case and is no longer considered a suspect, Bates said.

Bates said investigators now believe 18-year-old Alejandro Salud did not commit a crime on March 30.

“We believe we know who the shooter was, and who the diver was, and the person that brought the gun and we believe that (Salud) was none of them,” Bates said. “He was with the people that committed the crime, but did not commit one himself,” he added.

The other two suspects, Christopher William Dillon and Leopoldo Moreno, are still considering plea deals from the district attorney’s office, Bates said.

All four men were arrested March 31, one day after a gunman fired a handgun into a group of teenagers on the 900 block of Gail Avenue in Arbuckle.

Investigators say the suspects, reportedly members of the Norteno street gang, opened fire on group of men they believed were members of a rival gang.

Daisy Lomeli, a 16-year-old sister to two of the alleged targets, was wounded in the arm. None of the intended targets were hurt.

Ambriz-Ruiz appears in court again Oct. 29 for a pre-sentencing report.

Dillon and Moreno are set to appear for trial Oct. 14.

Contact Rob Parsons at 458-2121 or rparsons@tcnpress.com.