Suspect escaped before slaying

Awaiting charges, he slipped out of hospital 12 days before allegedly gunning down man

A man accused of shooting to death a Riverside resident in October of 2023 had slipped out of a hospital unnoticed 12 days before the killing after being detained following a crash at the end of a pursuit, the Riverside Police Department said.

Instead of being booked into jail, Gabriel Daniel Molina, 30, remained at large and is suspected of gunning down Michael Rangel, 68, on Oct. 28.

Molina is charged with murder and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He also faces charges that include felony evading and armed robbery from other cases. He has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court April 26.

Molina was out on bail Oct. 16 following his arrest in connection with a series of armed robberies of fast-food restaurants in Riverside and Moreno Valley, when Riverside police tried to pull over a car he was driving because of vehicle code violations, said Officer Ryan Railsback, a Police Department spokesman. Molina sped away and crashed into a business, causing serious injuries to himself and his passenger. Police said they found a gun in the car.

Molina was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where doctors told police that Molina was too badly injured to be considered an immediate flight risk, Railsback said.

Often, Railsback said, injured suspects will be taken to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s jail ward at Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley. But there were no available beds, Railsback said. And the department decided not to place an officer outside Molina’s hospital room because of a combination of his injuries and the nature of the criminal charges he faced.

Had Molina been perceived to be healthier and faced more serious charges — murder, for

Molina