Riverside County firefighter accused of raping three women while on duty, as he makes cowardly courtroom move
A CAL FIRE paramedic stands accused of using his station shed to rape three women on duty, exploiting authority while prosecutors warn he could face life under California's One Strike law.
A Riverside County firefighter-paramedic lured at least three women into sexual assaults while on duty, including one brutal attack inside a shed behind CAL FIRE Station 96 in Temecula. David Renteria III, 51, was arrested last month after an investigation that opened in January, and now faces felony charges including kidnapping to commit a sexual offense and multiple counts of rape.
Prosecutors say Renteria exploited the trust that comes with his uniform and paramedic role. One victim met him online; he directed her to the station in November 2025, then dragged her to the shed where he held her captive and raped her repeatedly. When she begged to return to her children, he threatened to harm them if she didn’t comply. She eventually escaped and reported the assault.
In court Wednesday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, Renteria appeared in a yellow jail jumpsuit and ducked from cameras. Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Sarah Crowley told the judge that in at least one assault he tied and bound the victim. “An additional allegation as to one of the victims [is] that he tied and bound that victim in the course of raping her,” Crowley said.
The case highlights how readily authority can be weaponized. Renteria’s private attorney was unavailable, forcing postponement of the formal arraignment until June. Under California’s “One Strike” sentencing law the charges could mean life in prison, Crowley noted: “because of these allegations under these specific charges, he would be facing life in prison.”
Investigators believe there may be more victims. The pattern described, online contact followed by an invitation to an official fire station, suggests a calculated use of the job itself as the trap.
What remains unanswered is how many times this occurred before the first woman broke free from the shed behind Station 96. The investigation is still open.
Original reporting: New York Post.
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