Suspect Apparent Victim of Blaze After Gun Battle

A narcotics suspect who barricaded himself in a house and shot it out with two Riverside County sheriff’s deputies Wednesday apparently died when he set the house on fire.

The flames spread to three other homes in the area, but no other injuries were reported. After the fire was extinguished, authorities found a body in the bathroom of the house occupied by the suspect, Curtis Arthur Bell. Deputies said they believe the body was that of Bell, although there was no immediate positive identification.

A woman briefly held hostage by the suspect escaped injury when she fled to safety. One sheriff’s deputy was injured when he fell while running from the house under fire. It was not immediately known whether he was seriously hurt.

Warrant Service

According to sheriff’s spokesman John Jones, the incident began about 2:20 p.m. when Deputies Jim Parsons and Gary Thompson went to 4046 Twining St. to serve a warrant on Bell, 30, for narcotics and weapons violations. Rubidoux is an unincorporated community west of Riverside.

A woman identified as Elizabeth Hartgrave, 25, allowed the deputies inside to search for Bell, Jones said. They found him hiding under a bed and he then began firing at them with a shotgun.

Both deputies took cover and returned fire, but Bell ran into the living room and seized the screaming Hartgrave as a hostage, Jones said.

The deputies managed to escape through a back door and took cover behind some trees. They were fired on by what they described as a high-powered or large caliber weapon. Members of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team converged on the scene.

An explosion was heard inside the house a little after 3 p.m. and the woman, apparently uninjured, ran out to the officers. The house caught fire and Bell was heard smashing windows as the flames spread to the other homes.