West Side burglar suspect shot by El Paso police 'was afraid for his life,' lawyer says

A magistrate judge on Wednesday significantly lowered the bond amount for an El Paso man wounded in a police shooting during a late-night trespassing call at a West Side duplex earlier this year.

Efrain Rivera III is accused of throwing a large rock at police officers when he was shot after allegedly breaking into an empty house on Feb. 20 on Royal Arms Drive, near Resler Drive.

Rivera, 24, faces two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant and a burglary of habitation charge, according to jail records.

"He is innocent of these charges, your honor," Rivera's public defense attorney, Myrna Pages, told Magistrate Judge Antonio Aun at a Wednesday afternoon, July 17, teleconference court hearing asking to have the bond reduced to the lowest amount possible.

Rivera was shot multiple times, suffering wounds to his pelvis and stomach, Pages said at the hearing, adding that police body-camera video of the shooting has yet to be provided to the defense.

"My client was afraid for his life from the El Paso Police Department," Pages said. "He denies ever harming any police officer or throwing any type of rock toward any police officer. In fact, he was fleeing and he was scared for his life."

Rivera has been incarcerated at the El Paso Jail Annex since Feb. 26 after being released from a hospital.

Rivera's initial total bond was set at $170,000 before it was dipped to $165,000. At Wednesday's hearing, Magistrate Judge Aun reduced it to $35,000. Rivera remains at the Jail Annex.

El Paso police shooting on Royal Arms Drive

The shooting occurred about 3 a.m. after two police officers responded to a call from a neighbor reporting hearing glass breaking and a trespassing in progress at an empty duplex in the 7200 block of Royal Arms Drive, police and a prosecutor said.

Neighbors told Channel 7-KVIA that Rivera previously lived in the house and was homeless after being evicted.

Officers found Rivera and Dominick Vincent Sebastian Giangrossi, 22, inside the house and confronted them as they headed into the backyard, police officials said. One officer drew his gun and the second officer drew a Taser electric-stun weapon.

Police alleged that Rivera refused to comply with orders to surrender, threw a large rock and an officer fired his gun. Rivera then ran and was chased by the officer, who fired again "in response to a perceived threat to his safety," a police news release stated. Police also used a Taser as Rivera allegedly continued to struggle until being arrested.

A total of $14,500 in damages was caused to the house, Assistant District Attorney Hallie Rideout said at the hearing.

Court records indicate that the initial trespassing and resisting arrest charges against Giangrossi were declined for prosecution. He was initially released from jail on a personal recognizance bond; he has been jailed since April after a bond revocation on a charge of burglary of habitation with the intent to commit a felony in the Royal Arms case. His bond is set at $60,000.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: West Side burglar suspect shot by El Paso police 'was afraid for his life,' lawyer says