Inmate accused of attempted murder of peace officer while awaiting trial in Orange

Prosecutors filed charges of assault and attempted murder of a peace officer against an inmate who already had been awaiting trial at the Theo Lacy Jail in Orange for a fatal 2011 shooting in Santa Ana, officials said Monday, March 2.

Emmanuel Vega, 36, of Riverside, pleaded not guilty to two felonies and two misdemeanors on Feb. 28, Orange County prosecutors said in a news release. He was accused following an attack that allegedly took place Jan. 13 that left three deputies injured, said Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman for the County District Attorney’s office.

One of the deputies was seriously hurt, Edds said. However, none suffered injuries that were considered life threatening. Prosecutors said the reported assault was conducted with “premeditation and deliberation,” in their release, but had declined to detail the circumstances surrounding it as of Monday evening.

Vega was held in lieu of $1 million bail.

His criminal history includes gun-related offenses and at least one other instance of threatening law enforcement, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections. He was convicted of resisting an officer with threat of violence in January 2011, and received a sentence of one year and four months at Kern Valley State Prison. However, he was released on parole after about seven months.

He and one other person were later arrested in connection with a shooting that took place in Santa Ana less than that two months after he got out of prison. It left one victim, Juan Manuel Diaz, dead at the age of 36. Vega was taken into custody in Chino during a traffic stop in Dec. of 2013, after investigators determined that his 2003 Toyota 4Runner may have been involved in the homicide.

The other person accused in the 2011 killing, Steve Moreno, pleaded guilty in Jan. 2014.