May 17, 2023 - Riverside County Sheriff’s Office officials report on Sunday, May 14, 2023, at 9:22 a.m., deputies assigned to the Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Station responded to a residence located in the 26000 block of Prairie Dog Lane, Moreno Valley, regarding a residential burglary. The reporting party, Gilberto Puga, stated that two females burglarized his residence. Dispatch received an additional call for service regarding two females who were at Puga’s residence screaming for help. Upon arrival, deputies located the two females walking away from Puga’s residence. Puga was uncooperative with deputies and left the location. The investigation revealed that the two females had not burglarized Puga’s residence but had been locked in Puga’s residence, held against their will, and tortured. A warrant for Puga’s arrest was obtained.

On Monday, May 15, 2023, Puga was arrested in the city of Hemet by the Hemet Police Department in the vehicle depicted in the attached photograph. Puga was arrested for false imprisonment and torture. Gilberto Puga, a 53-year-old resident of Moreno Valley, was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center and is being held on $1,000,000 bail.

The public is being asked if anyone has had any contact with Puga under similar circumstances or any information with this case to call Investigator Robert Castellanos or Deputy Daisy Ayala at the Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Station by calling (951) 486-6700. 


Source: Riverside County Sheriff’s Office