Ex-police officer accused in drug, domestic violence cases due in court

A former Cathedral City police officer accused of swiping fentanyl and ingesting it following a drug raid, then later assaulting and harassing a former girlfriend, was slated to ask a judge Tuesday to reduce his bail.

Claudiu Murzea, 46, of Rancho Cucamonga, is charged with making criminal threats, battery on a domestic partner, violating a protective order, destroying evidence and possession of controlled substances.

During his arraignment last week on the domestic violence-related charges, during which he pleaded not guilty, Murzea requested a bail review hearing. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Gerard granted the motion, setting the hearing for Tuesday morning at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

However, she continued the bail review to Oct. 17, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

Murzea’s current bond is $1 million. He is being held at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

The defendant was taken into custody on the domestic violence-related charges on Oct. 4. He had been free on a $5,000 bond, awaiting disposition of the drug case, prior to the most recent arrest.

According to a criminal complaint, last week, the ex-cop allegedly threatened the woman, identified in court documents only as “M.M.,” and perpetrated an unspecified assault on her, violating a domestic violence restraining order in the process.

“The victim is terrified as Murzea has guns registered to him (and) is a trained former police officer from Cathedral City,” according to a bail-setting request filed by the sheriff’s department. “He was terminated due to drug offenses and has since made credible criminal threats to the Riverside County D.A.’s office, Cathedral City PD and a (law enforcement) officer.”

The document, filed by Detective Christi Arnold, alleged the defendant has been “demonstrating erratic behavior, based on emails and voicemails.”

Murzea, a former Cathedral City officer of the year in 2015, was first arrested and charged in connection with the drug case last November.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by the sheriff’s department, on May 11, 2022, the defendant and other law enforcement personnel conducted a probation sweep in which they searched a hotel room where a felon and another party were staying.

The detainees, whose identities were not disclosed, were taken outside the room, where Murzea was tasked with watching them, the affidavit stated.

“Officers searched the room and located fentanyl pills, powdered fentanyl, methamphetamine and a firearm,” the document said.

It was later discovered that one of the parties removed from the hotel room had “drugs in his pocket at the time he was detained,” but there was no record of those substances being booked into evidence, according to the affidavit. Roughly two hours later, “Claudiu was located unconscious, suffering from a drug overdose behind the Cathedral City Police Department.”

He was taken to Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, where a nurse allegedly discovered fentanyl in the defendant’s wallet.

“A toxicology test revealed fentanyl, as well as additional drugs, were in Claudiu’s blood,” according to the sheriff’s department.

The defendant recovered and was ultimately fired from the police department.

The drug charges are misdemeanors.

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