Man Accused Of Shooting Teen In East County Pleads Not Guilty

EL CAJON, CA — A 19-year-old man accused of shooting a teenage boy near El Cajon, then fleeing the state, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of attempted murder and assault with a firearm.

Richard Anthony Bell was arrested in December in Las Vegas, one week after the El Cajon resident allegedly shot the 16-year-old victim in the unincorporated Bostonia area north of El Cajon.

The Dec. 4 shooting happened outside an unlicensed marijuana dispensary on North Second Street between Greenfield and Pepper drives, San Diego County sheriff's Sgt. Jacob Klepach said.

Sheriff's officials said the shooting was believed to be gang-related, and not related to the dispensary's operations.

The boy was hospitalized with several gunshot wounds.

Authorities have not disclosed what led investigators to identify Bell as the suspected shooter or how he was tracked to Las Vegas.

Members of the U.S. Marshal Service's Fugitive Task Force arrested Bell on Dec. 11 inside an unidentified hotel-casino on the Las Vegas strip. In December, sheriff's officials said Bell was being held on a $2 million warrant and awaiting extradition proceedings for an eventual return to San Diego County.

County jail records indicate Bell was booked into the San Diego Central Jail last Friday. He is currently being held without bail.

— City News Service