Riverside County sheriff’s union says stay away from Soboba Indian casino

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Assn., a union representing thousands of employees, has warned its members and the public to stay away from the Soboba Indian casino near San Jacinto because of recent violence.

The group urged its roughly 3,700 members Friday to visit other casinos until the situation at Soboba is “stabilized.”

The reservation was the scene of two shootouts earlier this month between Riverside County sheriff’s deputies and several tribe members who used rifles against officers, their vehicles and a helicopter. Three tribal members died in those gun battles.

In the last six months, six Soboba members, including the son of a formal tribal chairwoman, have been fatally shot in confrontations with deputies.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection will no longer respond to calls on the reservation without a police escort.

“Due to recent violence against Riverside County deputy sheriffs and a concern that the situation remains unstable for [union] members as well as the general public, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Association is recommending that its members and the general public avoid the Soboba Casino for their off-duty leisurely activities,” the alert said, before listing nine other Indian casinos to patronize.

Tribal Council member Rose Salgado said the tribe didn’t want to bring the public into the controversy.

“The recent tragic events were unrelated to the casino and had no impact on the safety or welfare of either casino patrons or employees. In fact, the casino parking lot was used as the command center for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the media during both incidents,” she said in a statement. “It is not productive to have an outside agency such as the Riverside County Sheriff’s Association hinder the process of mediation between the tribe, the United States Department of Justice, and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department – an agency that they are supposed to be helping, not alienating.”

Since the latest shootings earlier this month, tribal leaders have held two closed-door sessions with local authorities and federal officials in an effort to reduce tensions on the reservation.

At the same time, Jack Schwartz, a lawyer for the tribe, has been investigating whether law enforcement violated the civil rights of Soboba members when they responded to the incidents.

The union’s warning came a day after Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone called for new leadership at Soboba.

Salgado said those comments reflected a lack of understanding and respect for tribal government.

“We have continued to ask for a government-to-government relationship, for them to be sensitive to our customs and traditions, and recognize and respect the tribe’s sovereignty,” she said. “We realize … that we have a long road ahead of us to educate elected officials and the communities of the intricate and dynamic functions of tribal government.”

Last week, the San Jacinto City Council sent a letter asking the tribe to withdraw an application to annex over 500 acres for a hotel-and-casino complex.

“There are some serious public safety issues out there and until those issues are squared away we did not think it was in the best interest of the community for that land transaction to move forward,” said San Jacinto Mayor Jim Ayres. “There is a perception in our city that it’s not safe out there because of the history of shootings and violence on the reservation.”

Ayres said there are 350 mobile homes and 175 houses near the 6,000-acre reservation and many people worry about being caught in the violence.

“If you go to a casino, at the minimum you want to be safe and not worry about semiautomatic rifle fire,” he said. “We want them to get their house in order. There are other casinos in the county that operate on a very sophisticated level and don’t have these kinds of problems.”

 david.kelly@latimes.com