A 26-year-old parolee was arrested Friday on suspicion of assaulting a motorist during a carjacking, a Riverside County sheriff's sergeant said.

Richard Matus was taken into custody about 12:30 p.m. in the 66-700 block of Two Bunch Palms in connection with the Oct. 19 attack, said sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez.

Matus, who was on parole in a weapons case, is accused of assaulting a driver who offered him a ride and leaving the victim on the side of the road, Gutierrez said.

The motorist, whose name was not released, went into cardiac arrest and remains hospitalized, the sergeant said.

Investigators did not reveal what evidence led to Matus' arrest.

He was being held without bail at the Riverside County Jail in Indio.